Summer Salad with Nectarines & Fresh Mozzarella

This salad is perfect for those hot and sticky summer days when you'd just rather not have to turn on your oven. Especially when you have delicious locally grown nectarines at your disposal. And at first glance it may seem fancy, but it couldn't be simpler to make. This is a very relaxed recipe; I don't usually use exact measurements when putting together salads, especially in the summer time when the weather is lovely and I'd rather be doing other things besides cooking indoors. So just throw it together and enjoy!

Summer Salad with Nectarines & Fresh Mozzarella

Ingredients:

a couple of handfuls of arugula or baby spinach (I used arugula here, but the taste can be a bit strong for some)

a nectarine or peach, sliced thinly

fresh mozzarella, torn into pices

a couple of sprigs of fresh herbs (I used sweet spearmint and basil here), minced

a green onion, thinly sliced

balsamic vinegar and olive oil

salt and pepper

Directions: 

Make a bed out of the arugula (or whatever type of lettuce you please, really). Layer on top of it the peach slices, mozzarella, green onions and herbs. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and sprinkle everything with salt and pepper. So easy and fast!

{Can you spot my cooking partner in this photo? And my polka dot pants?}

Honeycrisp Apple and Romaine Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Fall is officially here, and to me that means apples! Along with the cooler weather, September brings the best tasting apples of the year. Honeycrisp apples are our favorite variety of starch free apples (that we've found, that is-there may be others that we haven't tried yet-let me know if we're missing out!) and they're usually available throughout the fall and winter, here in the United States.

This salad is a good base for a simple Autumn salad, and the great thing about having a good salad base is that you can switch out elements depending on what you have on hand at home. I try to make sure that we always have a least a few hearts of romaine in the fridge, because salads are always an easy and tasty way to get in vegetables when you're starch free. Walnuts and almonds would also be really good in this salad, as would fennel or other types of cheese. If you make the salad with other combinations, let me know how they turn out!

Honeycrisp Apple and Romaine Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
serves 3-4
for the salad:
1 large romaine heart
1 small honeycrisp apple
2 scallions (green onions)
1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese - but don't use pre-shredded cheese because it will have starch added to keep it from sticking, use a block of cheese and shred it yourself
for the dressing:
1 tablespoon honey
1-2 tablespoons spicy brown or Dijon mustard (I like my dressing really mustardy-you should try it with one tbsp first and add more if you think it needs it)
1 tablespoon champagne or apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Cut off the end of the romaine heart. Then keep making cuts, about 1 inch apart (parallel to cutting off the end) until you've cut you're whole romaine heart. (I think this makes the best sized lettuce pieces for salads.) Add your lettuce to a large bowl.
2. Core your apple and cut it into halves or quarters. Then, cut slices as thing as you can make them and add it to your salad bowl. Trim the scallions and slice into 1/4 inch sized pieces. Add to the salad. Shred your Swiss cheese directly over the bowl until it looks like you have the right amount. (This is how I always do it-I don't think I've ever measured anything directly when I make a salad, it's always based on feel, and taste of course.)
3. Combine the honey, mustard and vinegar in a jam jar/glass vessel. I heat up this mixture in the microwave for about 15 seconds so that the honey mixes with the other ingredients and doesn't just stick to the bottom of the jar. Shake up the jar to mix everything, then add in the olive oil and salt and pepper. Shake to mix again.
4. Toss your salad with the dressing and enjoy!

Panzanella (Italian Bread Salad)

Panzanella is a classic Italian tomato-bread salad, and I gave a starch-free twist. I'm sure the Italian bread elitists out there won't like my spin on this salad, but for people who can only eat starch-less bread, it's not too bad. Actually, I'm really happy with out this salad turned out; I wasn't completely sure how the thick almond meal bread would work in this recipe. The original recipe had cucumbers, but I left them out, not really feeling the crunchiness that cucumber would add to this salad. This is adapted from a recipe I found in the July/August 2011 edition of Cook's Illustrated.

{toasting the bread}



{a dinner of salads}

Panzanella (Italian Bread Salad)

serves 4

6 cups "pumpernickel" almond meal bread, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

1 1/2 lbs. tomatoes, cored, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 shallot, sliced thin

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Toss the bread pieces with 2 tablespoons oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Arrange bread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast bread pieces until just starting to brown, 8-10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

2. Gently toss tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Transfer to colander and set over bowl, then set aside to drain for 15 minutes, tossing occasionally. Whisk remaining 6 tablespoons oil, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper into reserved tomato juices. Add bread pieces, toss to coat, and let stand for 10 minutes, tossing occasionally. Add tomatoes, shallot, and basil to bowl with bread pieces and toss to coat. Season to salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.



Creamy Cucumber & Dill Salad

When I served this salad with dinner the other day, Roi actually asked if there was any more left for him to eat. To give you an accurate idea of the enormity of this situation--he always eats his salads without complaint, but unless they contain bacon, he never asks for more. And luckily, our cucumber plant is flowering like crazy right now, so we just might be eating this salad all summer long. This recipe is Scandinavian in origin (it's actually called Krämig Dill-Och Gurksallad) and is adapted from the Best International Recipe cookbook.

Creamy Cucumber & Dill Salad
serves 4
3 medium cucumbers, peeled, halved, seeded and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup minced fresh dill
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper

1. Whisk the sour cream, dill, vinegar, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together in a medium bowl. Add the cucumbers and green onions and toss to coat. Refrigerate the salad until chilled, at least 1 hour, or up to 6 hours. Season with salt and pepper before serving.

Greek Cucumber Salad

I know how much you like salads, so here's another one. I like to make this salad when I don't have that much time to make dinner and I usually have the ingredients on hand because Greek salad is one of my favorites. It only takes about 10 minutes total to chop everything up, make the dressing and toss it all in a bowl. And if you don't have exact amounts, that's okay. I never measure out amounts for salads like this, I usually just throw what I have into a bowl and mix it up.

Greek Cucumber Salad
serves 2-3
salad:
1 large cucumber, quartered and sliced (I usually half-peel it too)
1 large tomato, chopped
a handful of black olives (you can use Kalamata olives obviously, I just use black because they're cheaper)
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
~1/2 cup feta*, crumbled (use more or less depending on how much you love feta, I tend to use a lot)
dressing:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
oregano

Throw all of the salad ingredients into a large bowl and mix it up! I usually just put the dressing in an old jam jar with a tight-fitting lid. First add vinegar, then oil and throw in the spices to taste. Then shake it up! Divide the salad among individual bowls and add dressing. So good!

*A note about buying feta. If you need it to be starch free, don't buy it already crumbled because they always add a starch to keep it from sticking together. You don't have to buy expensive feta, just make sure it's in a block and check the ingredients to be sure.

Wilted Spinach Salad with Bacon Dressing

This salad is so good! You'll want to make it twice in the same week, which we definitely did. In my book, any recipe that combines a little bit of bacon with vegetables is good because it gets Roi to eat more vegetables. Sometimes I feel like I'm catering towards a little kid and not my husband. Anyway, try it. You won't be sorry.

This recipe is from the Cook's Illustrated cookbook Perfect Vegetables. The salad comes together quickly, so you'll need to have all the ingredients cut and ready before you start. And when you add the vinegar mixture to the pan, step away from the stove-top because the fumes will be strong!

Wilted Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
Serves 4-6
6 ounces baby spinach (about 8 cups)
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
pinch salt
10 ounces (about 8 slices) thick-cut bacon
1/2 medium red onion, chopped medium (about 1/2 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced
3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered lengthwise

1. Put the spinach in a large bowl. Stir the vinegar, sugar, pepper, and salt together in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves then set aside.

2. Fry the bacon in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, flipping occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. When cool enough, break up into 1/2 inch pieces. Pour the bacon grease into a heatproof bowl and return 3 tablespoons of the fat to the skillet. Add the onion to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the vinegar mixture and remove the skillet from the heat. Working quickly, scrape the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon to the loosen the browned bits.

3. Pour the hot dressing over the spinach, add the bacon, and toss gently until the spinach is slightly wilted. Divide the salad among individual plates, arrange the egg quarters over each, and serve immediately.