Radish, Cucumber, Beet Salad

One of the best parts about becoming grown ups (that happened already, right?), is that we love more foods.

When I was younger, I gagged over asparagus, brussel sprouts or beets. Now, I adore all three. And whenever I gravitate toward beets in the grocery store, I imagine my 11-year old self casting me a scornful glare. If she were here, we would NOT be allowed to make this dish. Eye roll.

But grown up me loves beets, and really loves this salad -- in which they play a starring role. Supporting actors include radishes (it's their debut into our cooking repertoire) and cucumbers (type cast as the mild-mannered salad ingredient). We sought inspiration from this salad on Serious Eats.

Pretty as an appetizer or very light main course salad, you can serve this over lettuce as we did, or on its own.

Ingredients:
1 bunch beets
1 English cucumber
1 bunch radishes
1/2 red onion
salt to taste
pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil (plus more for roasting beets)
1-2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint (or more or less to taste)
1 head romaine lettuce

(balsamic vinaigrette)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2/3 cups olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Wash beets, and place them in a roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and olive oil. Add a little water to the pan to prevent beets from sticking. Roast in the oven at 350 until beets are easily pierced with a knife, about an hour. Let cool, then peel off the skins and slice into quarter-inch slices. Prepare cucumber salad by removing seeds from cucumber, then cutting the cucumber into very thin slices. Place cucumber in a bowl, then thinly slice radishes (you can use a peeler for this) and red onion, and add to the bowl. Add mint, olive oil, and red wine vinegar. Make the balsamic vinaigrette by whisking together ingredients. Divide romaine among four plates, top with beets, then cucumber and radish salad. Drizzle balsamic vinaigrette over top, and serve.

Grilled Radicchio and Bean Salad

Mario Batalli and I are practically related. He dated the college roommate of the younger sister of one of my mother's childhood friends. That makes us, what? Best friends? I thought so, and I'll be sure to tell him if we ever meet. Given our close relationship, it's lucky that Alex and I find his recipes so unbelievable. I don't think I could break it to him if we didn't. But somehow, every dish that we've tried from his cookbooks or show (or restaurants) has been amazing -- and this bean and radicchio masterpiece is no exception. It comes from his recent cookbook, Mario Batali Italian Grill, which has some of the most gorgeous food photographs we've ever seen, and some of the yummiest-looking recipes too.

The recipe calls for grilling the radicchio, preparing the beans, and serving both on toasted bread slices, like a bruschetta. Though we served it this way the first time we prepared it, this time we skipped the bread since the rest of our meal was carb heavy. We served the beans and radicchio as a salad, and it was just as perfect like that. This recipe is simple, healthy, and great for low-key summer evenings. If you feel inspired, you might experiment by adding olives or tomatoes, or topping the dish with parmesan cheese. We love it as is (read: with our own minor adjustments).

Ingredients:
1 cup cannellini beans (we used canned ones, drained and rinsed)
6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
6 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbsp basil leaves, cut into fine strips
1 garlic clove, minced (we left this out)
2 large radicchio heads
salt
pepper

Instructions:
Preheat grill or broiler. In a mixing bowl, gently stir together beans with 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tablespoons of the vinegar, basil and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cut the radicchio in half from top to bottom and place dry onto grill. Cook until wilted, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from grill and cut each half in half again to form wedges. Cut the core piece out and loosen each leaf from the head. Dress the removed leaves in a mixing bowl with remaining oil and vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Arrange radicchio plates and divide bean
mixture over it. Serve.

Benihana Dressing with Salad

Remember Benihana? You went there for your 11th birthday party with 12 of your best friends for life? You caught a piece of chicken teriyaki in your mouth, or maybe it landed on your new outfit? Now try to remember the salad dressing -- sweet and gingery, subtly tangy, as brightly colorful as it flavorful? It's one of the best salad dressing recipes out there, and somehow my mom found a copy and shared it with us. It goes great on any salad, but we tried to compose one with flavors that we thought would compliment the dressing perfectly.

We served this salad as an appetizer to our first sushi FAIL. Yes, we sadly failed at an attempt to make one of our very favorite foods. I think it's because we did a bit of a rush job, but also because we didn't have all of the proper tools and the soy sauce we used tasted funky. One of these days, we'll get our acts together and post some beautiful rolls, because I know we have it in us. So this salad actually ended up as the highlight of the meal, and the dressing was the highlight of the salad. I think it could actually outshine anything that accompanies it, though, because it's just that good.

Ingredients (serves 2):
(dressing)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
4 tbsp rice vinegar
4 tbsp water
2 tbsp chopped, peeled ginger
2 tbsp chopped celery
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp tomato paste
3 tsp sugar
2 tsp lemon juice

(salad)
1 head of romaine lettuce, cut into bite-sized pieces
about 10 cherry tomatoes
1 avocado, sliced
1 orange, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces

Instructions:
To make the salad dressing, combine all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Divide salad components between two plates, pour dressing over salads, and serve.

Potato Salad with Rosemary and Thyme

This salad is inspired by our favorite method for roasting potatoes -- rosemary, thyme, a dash of olive oil, salt, pepper, done. We both love potato salads as a summery side dish, but heavily mayonnaised versions are TheVom.com. For our less lingo-savvy readers, that means they make us nauseated.

Our version is tossed in a lemony vinaigrette, so it's refreshing and light. We served it as a side dish to the open-faced vegetable sandwiches that we wrote about earlier, and it came together in almost no time. You can refrigerate the salad before serving so that the flavors really come together, or even serve it warm.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup rosemary, finely chopped
1/4 cup thyme, finely chopped
2 1/4 pounds small red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled

Instructions:
Whisk oil, lemon juice and zest in small bowl to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in scallions, rosemary and scallions. Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain and cool for 15 minutes, then quarter the potatoes. Add potatoes to bowl with dressing and toss. Let stand 10 minutes. Refrigerate or serve.

Grilled Asparagus Early Summer Salad

It's summer! Not officially, we know, but secretly it is. Here's are some clues:

1. No school. 2. We saw fresh corn. 3. There's light at 8:30 p.m. and (as if we weren't already suspicious of the season's arrival) 4. The asparagus we cooked yesterday tasted like summer asparagus -- lightly charred and smoky, with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper bits clinging to them.

Luckily, we planned to incorporate the asparagus into a salad, because otherwise I fear we would have been overwhelmed by their pure summer-ness (summerosity? summersion?) It's only May, for goodness sake -- give a girl some time to adjust! So we placed our summer asparagus over greens with tomatoes, goat cheese and a lemon vinaigrette, and found them just right.

For our dressing, we were extremely excited to use special olive oil that a friend brought us from Spain. With our limited knowledge of Spanish, we've discerned that it's from Sierra de Cazorla, where one-third of the municipal land contains olive trees. It's amazing for vinaigrettes and drizzling, less so for cooking hot food. We can't wait to use it for the rest of summer, which we plan to embrace both emotionally and through food in the coming weeks.

Ingredients (serves 6):
1 bunch asparagus
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
6 oz. grape tomatoes
3 oz. goat cheese
6-8 oz. mixed greens

(dressing)
3/4 cup olive oil
juice of 2 lemons
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Whisk together balsamic vinegar, the 1/3 cup olive oil, and the kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Pour over asparagus in a baking dish, and let sit for about 15 minutes while you preheat the grill. (If you don't have a grill, you can preheat your oven to 375 and roast them for about 20-30 minutes). Grill asparagus for about 5 minutes, until lightly charred. Arrange mixed greens on a plate, and divide asparagus, tomatoes and goat cheese among plates. Whisk together dressing ingredients, pour dressing over the salad plates, and serve.

Avocado and Blood Orange Salad

Sometimes, we feel silly posting recipes like this one. I never know how to write instructions for a salad: Put ingredients on plate? Pour dressing over lettuce? It seems self-explanatory. But as I was looking at the picture of this salad deciding whether we should post it, I thought about how rarely we remember to make such simple and beautiful dishes. Salads like this one are so easy to make, but too often we think of them as too fancy for a weeknight, or too much effort for something not very substantial (case in point: Alex made this as part of my birthday meal). Usually, we make salad as a main dish, or not at all, opting instead to quickly steam a side vegetable or to throw one in with whatever else we are making. After this salad, though, I'd like to change that.

When we make salad as a main course, we feel pressure to weight it down with nuts, cheese and other proteins to make sure it is filling enough. While I love dinner salads, I think there is still something to be said for just lettuce, avocado and blood oranges. Add a simple citrus dressing, and just enjoy the combination of those three ingredients. I found myself surprised at the combination of textures, something I hardly notice when other ingredients bog the salad down. If you haven't done a salad like this in a while, consider it, and I bet you'll be surprised too.

Ingredients (makes 2 small salads):
(salad)
2 cups mixed greens
1 avocado, sliced
1 blood orange, sectioned

(dressing)
1/2 c olive oil
1/3 c lemon juice
1 tbs sugar
1 small shallot, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Mix dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Assemble lettuce, avocado and blood oranges on a plate and dress.

Salad with Chicken, Goat Cheese and Walnuts

I promised more to come about the 25-person Seder that we hosted Sunday night, and we're happy to report that it was a success. Somehow, we fit everyone into Alex's apartment and managed to stuff them silly (at least I hope we did). But because we were rushing around like crazy people, we didn't get a chance to take many pictures of the food. This is probably not such a bad thing, since dishes like apple matzah kugel aren't the most beautiful and the world. I think the almond rocha was the biggest hit anyway, and the recipe for that is already posted.

We're not really keeping kosher for Passover (Alex says we racked up enough Jew points with the Seder that we're excused) but many friends are, so last night's meal was designed sans-bread. Though we usually feel guilty about serving dinner salads to guests, we found one last night that was filling and beautiful enough that we were excited to share it. It has both cheese and chicken, so we figured there were enough calories for the dish to stand alone. The dish is straightforward with its dairy/fruit/nut combo, but the lemony dressing really stood out and pulled everything together. We found the recipe here on Simply Recipes, and made some minor adjustments (more of the good stuff, cooked the shallots for dressing). Enjoy this for lunch or dinner, and don't be shy about serving it to friends.

Ingredients (serves 4):
2 large shallots, peeled, diced
3 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast
olive oil
2 green apples, thinly sliced
mixed greens (however much you want to serve 4)
1 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
1/3 cup goat cheese - broken up into little pieces
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Instructions:
Place chicken in a baking pan, pour about 2 tbsp olive oil for it, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, until juicy but cooked through. You can also just fry the chicken up in a pan. Once cooked, let cool, then slice thinly. To make dressing, combine olive oil and lemon juice (2 parts oil to 1 part lemon juice) with shallots (we cooked them for a few minutes in a touch of olive oil first) and salt and pepper to taste. Divide lettuce among plates, and top with walnuts, cheese, apples and chicken. Dress and serve.

Healthier Taco Salad

When we are feeding other people, we feel guilty making just a salad. But that's what we wanted, so we found a dish that exists in both salad and non-salad form: the healthier taco (salad). I write "healthier" for several reasons. Firstly, we used extra-lean ground turkey instead of beef. We added lots of vegetables, and for the salad, we used only a few reduced-fat chips. Obviously, this isn't the healthiest salad in the world, but we felt pretty good about our modifications.

We transformed the salad from a bunch of ingredients thrown together to a cohesive dish by cooking the ground turkey with seasonings and tomatoes. Additionally, we made a pico de gallo to use for our dressing, and it pulled the salad components together wonderfully.


Ingredients:
(pico de gallo)
3 plum tomatoes, seeded, chopped
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoons minced jalapeño chili
1 garlic clove, minced

(salad)
1 lb. ground turkey
1/2 can tomatoes
1/8 cup onion, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp oil
1 head romaine lettuce, cut into salad-sizes pieces
1 can black beans
1 bell pepper, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup reduced-fat tortilla chips
cheese (optional)

Instructions:
Make pico de gallo by mixing together all of the ingredients. Heat oil in a large pan. Add turkey and cook through, add tomatoes and chili powder and cook for an additional minute or so. Divide lettuce between two plates, top lettuce with remaining ingredients and pico de gallo.

Thai Chicken Salad

We've been experimenting with Asian-flavored chicken salads for the past few weeks, and this is the first version to make the cut. Yes, it's difficult to believe, but sometimes we keep our meals off the internet. Though occasionally it's because we've already posted the recipe (roasted chicken) or there's no recipe to post (fudgesicles with peanut butter), generally it's because we've failed.

Our success with this chicken salad from our decision to compose the chicken salad separately from the greens, and to combine them immediately before serving. The leftover sauce from the chicken became the dressing for the entire dish, so the flavors meshed together perfectly. The inspiration from our recipe comes from one of the Culinary Institute of America's "one-dish meals," which we always accidentally call "one-dish wonders."

Ingredients (makes 4-6 entree-sized portions):
3 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp dried red pepper flakes
2 1/2 lb. chicken breasts, minced
6 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup scallion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 mint leaves, chopped
3 tbsp lemongrass, minced
1 cup lime juice
1 cup cashews or peanuts, chopped
1/2 head napa cabbage, chopped
1 radicchio, chopped
2 cups bean sprouts
1 cup cilantro

Instructions:
Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the red pepper flakes and cook for about 10 seconds, until aromatic. Add the chicken, fish sauce and brown sugar. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the chicken is no longer pink and cooked thoroughly. Remove from heat. Add scallion, mint leaves, lemongrass, tomatoes, cashews and lime juice. Mix until all of the ingredients are fully coated. Combine the cabbage, radicchio, bean sprouts and cilantro. Scoop the chicken salad over the greens, and use leftover liquid from the chicken as salad dressing.

Citrus Avocado and Orange Salad

Since we've only existed since July, this is our official opportunity for blogolutions (and really, self-evaulation in any form). We hope that posting these does not mean that someone will actually hold us to them. In fact, if anyone tries, we'll just take down this post and deny that it ever existed. Yes, we'd go there.

1. Invent more recipes
2. Use recipes from the approx 20 cookbooks we received from the holidays
3. Pay attention to details that make the food prettier (aka, food style)
4. Learn how to use heat correctly
5. Make our own stocks

Tonight's citrus salad meets two of our goals, 1 & 3. Woot! My mom showed us a nifty way to halve the oranges, and there is great color contrast between the avocados and oranges. The dressing is unbelievable with the flavors in the salad -- simple, tangy, enhancing. Definitely make this for guests, or if you'd like to impress. This salad is seriously good-looking, and just as lovely to taste.

Ingredients (makes 6):
3 large navel oranges
2 avocados, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup cashews
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped

(dressing -- these are estimates, so adjust to taste)
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 olive oil
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
4 tbsp juice of orange
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:
Slice the orange by placing it on the table with the navel facing forward. Insert a knife into the center of the orange on the diagonal, and proceed to make similar inserts in a zig-zag formation around the fruit. Separate the halves. Running a thumb between the orange sections and the peel, carefully peel the fruit out of its peel. Divide the sections, and cut them in half again. Place in a bowl. Add the avocados and scallions, and add dressing (make by whisking all ingredients together until it tastes good) until the salad is very lightly covered. Add the cashews, and spoon the salad back into the empty orange halves. Serve.

Salad with Roasted Pears, Walnuts and Gorgonzola

Our friend Danny showed us this cartoon about words for the internet. Sorry for our brief hiatus from the intertubes. We haven't had much time for the blogonet since leaving Penn. We headed to Alex's home in Connecticut and did some cooking, but we've been pretty lazy about getting the recipes to the webosphere. Enough.

Really though: We are officially on winter break, which will likely mean very few posts over the next couple weeks. Keep checking though, happy holidays, and we'll be back full-force during the second week of January.

In the meantime, here's a favorite salad that we conjured up for Alex's family. The warm pears make it perfect for winter, and the way we cut them makes the salad look really, really pretty. The dressing is unique and light, so this works well as a first course. The recipe is a four-star from Epicurious, and we offer some slight modifications here.

Ingredients:
(salad)
3 bunches fresh thyme sprigs
4 bartlett pears (about 2 1/2 pounds), halved and cored
1/4 cup honey
8 oz. spring mix lettuce (or your fave, butter lettuce works well too)
6 ounces blue cheese, sliced
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted

(dressing)
4 tablespoons white grape juice and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400. Place thyme sprigs on a baking sheet. Place pear halves, cut side down, on work surface. Starting 1/2 inch from stem and leaving pear half intact, cut each lengthwise into scant 1/3- to 1/2-inch-wide slices. Press pear to fan slices; place on the thyme sprigs. Drizzle pears with honey, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 15 minutes until pears are tender. Let cool on baking sheet. To make the dressing, whisk ingredients together. Plate the lettuce, top with cheese and nuts, place pear alongside greens. Drizzle with dressing.

Warm Salad with Potatoes and Lemon Dressing

After a semester's worth of superb produce, we said our goodbyes to Penn's on-campus farmer's market this afternoon. Though the market will return once more next week before closing until spring, we will be home for Thanksgiving. We decided to plan a fully locally-produced dinner to honor the occasion, and found everything we needed for a mere $7.50! There's probably a joke to be made here about "market price," but I'm an English major ... so yeah.

We love the warm potatoes, string beans, eggs and lemony dressing that compose a salad nicoise -- but we're a bit more lukewarm about the tuna and olive business. We found some beautiful brussel sprouts at the market, and thought it would be interesting to try throwing them into the mix. Since we steamed them for a bit before pan-cooking them in a touch of smart balance and salt, they added a great buttery flavor to the dish. The whole ordeal took about 30 minutes, which was perfect for a busy weeknight (Project Runway Season 4 @ 10, please!). Definitely recommend this.

Ingredients (serves 2):
1 head lettuce (romaine, butter lettuce or frisee)
4 hardboiled eggs (we removed the yolks)
2 red potatoes
1 quart brussel sprouts
1/2 1b. string beans
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

for dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp herbs de provence (rosemary and thyme)
salt and pepper

Instructions:
Steam the string beans and brussel sprouts (takes about 10 minutes each). Peel the potatoes and boil them (takes about 15 minutes). Set aside string beans and potatoes. Heat olive oil, and cut the brussel sprouts in half. Cook them in the oil with a pinch of salt and pepper for about three minutes. When the potatoes are cooled, slice them. Slice the hard boiled eggs as well, and add the toppings to the lettuce. For the dressing, just wisk the ingredients together and pour over the salad.

Lemon Cole Slaw with Chicken

We love this recipe, and we're amazed that it has gone this long without appearing on the blog. It involves no real cooking -- only chopping and mixing. The result is so addictive. You are supposed to let it sit for an hour before eating, but we kept grabbing forkfuls in the meantime. Additionally, throwing some chicken on top creates an extremely healthy, refreshing dinner salad. This is not a creamy coleslaw at all, it's very lemony and sweet and light.

The recipe is from Epicurious, and you can find it here. As for the chicken, we used Alex's roommate's new lean George Forman grill, which, hilariously, worked great. You could also just cook it in a pan with a bit of oil, salt, and pepper.

Tangerine and Avocado Salad with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Full disclosure: Alex and I used to be editors at the Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn's independent student newspaper. For 40 hours per week for one year we served as Senior Photo Editor (him) and City News Editor (me). Because we harbor such strong love for our former co-workers, who will surely post comments after reading this, we have a weekly gourmet club in which each of us takes turn cooking a meal for the others. Tonight was my turn, so this recipe and some of the ones that follow it were cooked for the lovely occasion, themed for Halloween.

This salad is of mostly of my own invention, with help from numerous recipes online. Because most of my meal involved serious flavors, I wanted to start especially light. The toasted pumpkin seeds were a must, but I kept second-guessing my decision to go citrus. Still, I wanted something unexpected and, in the end, it was perfect. It was tangy but grounded by the salt of the pumpkin seeds, and I was very pleased with the dressing. This works beautifully as an opener to a very fall meal.

Ingredients (serves 10 as an appetizer):
1 bag baby romaine
1 bag spring mix
3 avocado, slices
4 tangerines, peeled and sectioned
10 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup lemon juice
2/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp tangerine zest
salt and pepper
pinch of sugar.

Instructions:
To toast the pumpkin seeds, I let them soak overnight in salt water and them roasted them at 400 for about 30 minutes, but there are millions of ways to do it. For the salad, combine the lettuces on plates. Top with slices of avocado, tangerine sections, and about a tbsp of the pumpkin seeds per serving. To make the dressing, wisk the olive oil, lemon juice and tangerine zest together, and season with salt and pepper, and a pinch of sugar.

Roasted Beet Salad with Many Toppings

Warm, fruity, nutty salads. So many varieties to love. Here's what we composed this evening:

The warm: roasted beets
The fruity: chopped asian pears
The nutty: toasted walnuts
The savory: marinated onions
The salad: mixed greens

The most wonderful thing about this type of salad is that it really doesn't matter what you put in it, as long as you get the basic elements down. For example, a version with warm chicken, grapes and pecans would have been just as lovely. But we found local beets and our farmer's market this afternoon, and the rest fell into line. Some recipes online called for adding scallions, but marinated onions worked superbly as well. We loved it.

Ingredients (serves 4):
6 small beets
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cups walnuts
2 asian pears, chopped
mixed greens

2/3 cup olive oil
1/3 wine vinegar
1/3 balsamic vinegar
pinch of sugar
salt
pepper

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425. Cut the beets in half, and place them in a roasting pan, dressed with about 2 tbsp of olive oil and dashes of salt and pepper. Roast them for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until soft. Meanwhile, make the dressing by mixing the olive oil and vinegars, sugar and some salt and pepper. Let the onions sit in the dressing. Toast the walnuts, and put them on the mixed greens with the pears and the cheese. When the beets are ready, wait until they are cool enough to handle, then peel them and slice them. Place them on the salad, add the onions, and dress it.

Vanilla Mint Fruit Salad

Already on a cooking kick and resigned to a grueling night of homework (though clearly, there is some distraction going on...), we thought a dessert was in order. Nothing fattening, just something light and refreshing.

What we ended up creating was an unbelievably yummy mojit0-daquirish fruit salad. Though the recipe instructed to let it sit for an hour, we kept sneaking to the kitchen to taste pieces. Everyone, including my pickiest-eater roommate, wanted seconds. We almost felt guilty that it tasted so good, because it required pretty much no work at all. On the other hand, what we missed in chopping and baking will surely be made up in essays and problem sets. Lord.

Check it here on Epicurious or below:

Ingredients:
2 cups grapes
24 oz. or so strawberries, hulled and halved
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp mint, finely chopped
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
whipped cream (optional)

Instructions:
Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and toss. Refridgerate 1-4 hours and serve. Garnish, if you desire, with whipped cream and a mint sprig.

Chopped Salad with Balsamic Tofu

We invented a dish tonight! Inspired in part by the grilled tofu salad at Magic Carpet, the vegetarian food cart from which we order lunch almost daily, our creation features an attempt to create MC's amazing grilled tofu, plus a ton of other crunchy veggies that we love.

Basically, anything works in a chopped salad. We wanted tofu for some protein, and decided to marinate it in a balsamic vineagrette with some oregano for a few minutes before searing it up and throwing it on top of everything else. The warmth of the tofu softened the dish, and made definitely made it filling enough to work as a main course. Hardly any cooking was involved, and we absolutely loved this.

Ingredients: (makes slightly more than enough for two people)
1 1/2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 can chick peas
1 package extra firm tofu
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 olive oil
2 tbsp oregano
salt and pepper

Instructions:
Combine all of the chopped vegetables except the tofu in a large bowl. Drain the tofu, pat dry and cut into one inch cubes. In a bowl, combine vinegar, olive oil, oregano and some salt and pepper. Pour over the tofu and let it sit (we left it about 10 minutes). In a pan, sear the tofu for about 6 to 7 minutes, or until it becomes slightly crispy. Put tofu over the salad, and serve. We recommend a balsamic vineagrette for dressing as well.

Hannah's Vietnamese Chicken and Mint Salad

Our friend, Hannah, made this dish for our group of friends the other night. Though she was working in a true dorm kitchenette (two burners and zero counter space), Alex and I were floored. It was so crunchy and tangy and perfect for an all-in-one meal. She credits her mother with the recipe, but Hannah definitely deserves recognition for her excellent execution.

We begged her for the recipe to post here, and reproduced it ourselves with local cabbage from Penn's farmer's market. No actual cooking is required, and like cole slaw, it tastes best after marinating for a while.

Ingredients:
1 chili (hot red Thai or red Serrano)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar (unseasoned)
1 1/2 tbsp lime juice
1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/5 medium onion, finely sliced
black pepper to taste
7-8 oz white cabbage shredded
1 medium carrot, julienned
7 oz cooked chicken breast cut into fine strips or shredded
bunch of mint, plus more for garnish

Instructions:
In a bowl, combine chili, garlic, sugar, vinegar, lime juice, fish sauce, oil, onion and black pepper. Set aside for about half an hour. In a big bowl, mix cabbage, carrot, chicken and mint. Pour dressing and onions over the mixture and toss well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Hannah says she usually doubles the dressing, as it often isn't enough, and sometimes doubles or triples the chili.

Last Tomato Salad

September.

New classes, new activities, new harvest produce. No more homeworkless evenings, no more grilled vegetable salads (mostly because no more grill), no more lazy mint limeade.

Of course, I can't wait for fall foods -- caramel apples particularly. But walking through the farmer's market this morning, nostalgia struck for the days of summer vegetables. Thus, we have the season's last tomato salad, an homage to all of the tomato salads of the past few months. You tasted really, really good.

Ingredients:
2 large yellow tomatoes, chopped into bite-size pieces
6 Roma tomatoes, chopped into bite-size pieces
1/4 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup basil, chopped
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
lettuce

Instructions:
Mix the chopped tomatoes together, add the olive oil, balsamic, and basil, then add the seasonings to taste. Toss together and serve over lettuce.