Grilled Vegetable & Orange Salad with Cajun Vinaigrette

Though the name of this salad suggests the ideal method of preparation, there are other ways you can cook the veggies when a grill is not available or the weather is not friendly to outdoor cooking. Some ingredients, like the snap peas, are better cooked in boiling water and cooled immediately in ice water. You can serve this salad warm but personally, I like to let the veggies cool a little bit.

Salad ingredients:

Romaine, sliced

Arugula

Corn, on husk

Fennel bulb, julienned

Red bell pepper, cut into triangles

Yellow bell pepper, cut into triangles

Plum tomatoes, quartered and seeded

Mushrooms, quartered
Snap peas

Olive oil

S & P to taste

Orange, segments

Cilantro, freshly chopped

Cajun vinaigrette ingredients:

Grainy Dijon

Garlic, minced

Ginger, minced (optional)

Sambal oelek (substitute with fresh, finely chopped chilies)

Honey

Cajun spice

Lemon zest

S & P to taste

Red wine vinegar

Olive oil

* Before doing anything else, cut the lettuce and place in a container big enough to hold with water, ice and a drop of vinegar. This helps to keep the lettuce nice and crispy. Strain and dry when needed.

* When making the vinaigrette, use either an immersion or standup blender and pour the oil in a slow, steady stream. This helps the vinaigrette to hold together better.

* Allow for veggies to cool before tossing with vinaigrette, orange segments and cilantro. Serve over the lettuce mix.

Let's talk pasta!

Easily a favorite and one of the things that I love about it is how versatile it can be. It can also be simple and easy without taking much time to make, as well as a great way to get your daily food groups requirement. These three recipes are some of my favorite to make, simple and full of flavor.

Chicken Carbonera, with sundried tomatoes & fresh basil

Served on penne

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil 200 ml

Chicken breasts, sliced 2 (serves 3-4)

Bacon, diced 250 g

Bay leaf, optional 2

Onion, diced 150 g

Garlic, minced 100 g

Sundried Tomatoes, chopped 250 g

White wine (optional) splash (chardonnay, or substitute with water)

Flour, all purpose 300 g

Heavy cream, 35% 1 cup

Mozzarella, shredded 150 g (substitute with parmesan)

Fresh basil 50 g

Salt & Pepper To Taste

Directions:

1. Boil some water and cook your pasta.
2. Heat oil over medium heat and add the chicken.
3. Add diced bacon and bay leaf.
4. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent.
5. Add sundried tomatoes and wine and bring to a simmer.
6. Add flour, stirring constantly until you get a light paste consistency.
7. Add heavy cream and bring to a simmer
8. Add the cheese and basil, slightly stirring until cheese is melted.
9. Add the basil, and season to taste.

Lasagna

This is a very easy recipe to put together and you could even freeze it to have it ready for those days when you just don’t feel like taking the time to cook anything.

Ingredients:

Pasta sheets, cooked

Bolognese sauce (recipe in previous entry)

Ricotta cheese 500 g

Spinach, stemmed 1 kg

*Mozzarella cheese, shredded enough to form a thin top layer

Fresh parsley just enough to garnish

Directions:

1. To layer the lasagna start with a layer of meat at the bottom, pasta, ricotta cheese & spinach, pasta, meat, and coat with cheese.
2. Cover aluminum foil and seal tightly.
3. Pre-heat oven to 350F
4. Cook lasagna to an internal temperature of 160F. If you don’t have a thermometer you can use a butter knife, just poke in the middle and with it touch just underneath your bottom lip to feel the heat.
5. Remove aluminum foil and brown the cheese slightly.
6. Garnish with parsley

*You can use your favorite cheese, or a combination here. Play around with it and find something you like. I like a combination of mozzarella and asiago.

*Mediterranean Vegetable Penne

One of the benefits of this dish is that it takes very little time to make. You can chop all your vegetables the day before and have ready to just throw together.

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil 100 ml

Red onion, sliced 1 half

Garlic, minced 100 g

Roma tomatoes, diced 2 (substitute with sundried tomatoes)

Canned artichokes, drained 1

Canned black olives, drained 1

Dry white wine 50 ml

Fresh basil, thinly sliced 60 g

Fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped 60 g

Parmesan cheese 40 g

Salt & pepper To Taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium heat and add the onions.
2. When onions are soft, add garlic and tomatoes and sauté for about a minute.
3. Add the canned vegetables and wine and bring to a simmer.
4. Finish with the fresh herbs, cheese and season to taste.

* Mediterranean cuisine can be described as a fusion of the foods from all the cultures surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Given the geography, the cuisine of these nations have influenced each other over time and evolved into sharing common principles and ingredients, making this type of cuisine very flexible.