Strawberry Caprese Salad - Seasonal Eating

One of my favorite blendings of flavors and ingredients is Caprese Salad. I love the flavors of the basil and the balsamic vinegar with the fresh produce. I think the way each flavor stands on their own and yet blends perfectly with the others is pure food magic. 

So when I found this recipe for Strawberry Caprese Salad, I could hardly wait to try it. I adore it with tomatoes and I love strawberries and balsamic vinegar reduction, so how could this salad recipe fail. It was going to be a wildly successful food experiment! 

Strawberries are at the peak of the season right now and that makes them not only inexpensive to buy, but at their most delicious and flavorful. I was able to find my strawberries for $1.50 each! ( I went back and bought two more just to eat plain after I made the salad. - the kids have already demolished one of them). 

Ingredients

3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil 

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

1 (8-oz.) tub fresh small mozzarella cheese balls

4 cups halved fresh strawberries 

Garnish: thinly sliced fresh basil

Preparation

Whisk together white balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, brown sugar, salt, and freshly ground pepper in a large bowl until sugar is dissolved. Add olive oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly until smooth. Add 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil and mozzarella cheese balls; toss to coat. Cover and chill 2 hours. Stir in strawberries; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over fresh arugula or as an appetizer with toasted French bread baguette slices. Garnish with thinly sliced fresh basil.

The dressing is just a quick whisk of ingredients. Feel free to season it more to your taste if you think you need to add a little more sugar or if you prefer a little more garlic. 

Some of my berries were a little large and so I cut them into quarters instead of just halves. I think it looks nice if you can get a few strawberry pieces into a bit instead of one giant piece that you have to cram into your mouth. Plus that means more surface area for that delicious dressing to cover and seep into. 

At my local market I am able to buy fresh herbs in a plastic clam shell. I think most mega-marts carry them this way now and so you should be able to access fresh herbs even if you don't grow them in your backyard. I pick all the leaves off the stems and stack them in a pile. I try and arrange them from largest on the bottom to the smallest on the top. Then your roll the leaves up and slice them into really thin ribbons. This is called Chiffonade, and it is a great technique to add to your kitchen skills.

Then just toss your sliced strawberries and your basil ribbons into the same large bowl that you made your dressing in. Then I added some fresh mozzarella pearls. ( but you can use a fresh ball in the large size and just dice into in pieces and then add that to your salad) I think the pearls are super adorable and who doesn't love little tiny balls of cheese!?!

I served it with some french bread, but you could also serve it on a baguette like a crostini. I used the bread to sop up all that delicious dressing that was left behind. This was an fantastic success and if you love either caprese salad or strawberries I highly recommend that you try it. It is different and refreshing and the sweet strawberries are just another complimentary flavor in a beautiful symphony of flavors.

Helping People be Less Hungry

Today is World Hunger Day. This campaign is run by The Hunger Project from the UK. One of the programs that they run is challenging people to live on $1.25 a day. They challenge regular people to live on $1.25 a day and experience what life can be like for those struggling with hunger and to meet the needs of their family.

This issue is one very close to my heart and a huge reason why I love Food $ense so much. Helping people to empower themselves and to not only help meet their needs but to help them live better healthier lives is an amazing thing. Sharing knowledge and experiences to learn new things can change the lives of the people that we come in contact with. And those people in turn are going out and bettering the lives of their family, their friends and the people that they come in contact with.

Choose My Plate just revealed their new Healthy Eating on a Budget program. It is amazing! There is great information there about Menu Planning, Grocery Shopping, Healthy Meals and Sample Menus.  Just like the basics that we teach here at Food $ense.

You don't have to travel the world to fight hunger. You can do something right here, helping yourself and others. Make your life a little better with simple steps for healthy living and help spread the knowledge to those whose lives you touch.

Raw Veggie Salsa

How have I lived my whole life and not known that May is Salsa month. This is really a month worth celebrating! I love salsa, we absolutely adore the stuff at my house. We can't get enough of it or eat it fast enough. We love it in all shapes and forms and this one is one of the kids favorites. (my husband is not a huge fan of it because he doesn't love beans as much as the rest of us do). 

Ingredients 
3 ripe tomatoes
1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 red onion
1 can organic black beans
1 bag frozen white corn (I used yellow corn)
2 limes (juiced)
1-2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Bunch of cilantro
Salt and Pepper to taste

Chop the tomatoes, peppers, red onion and cilantro. Mix into a large serving bowl. Drain and rinse black beans and add to the mixture. Add frozen corn to mixture. Squeeze the juice out of the two limes and add the lime juice and olive oil to the salsa. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

You can alter it to your taste, We usually end up adding a (quite) a bit more cilantro because we really like it. And since we are serving at a family BBQ today I made it a little bit more spicy. 

Enjoy your beginning of summer (officially) and enjoy the rest of the of the best food holidays around. Salsa Month.

Caesar Pasta Salad

The Caesar Salad was a such a hit a few weeks ago around here. Some of the kids have been asking when we can have it again.  Since yesterday was warm and sunny and school is almost out, It felt like a great day to have a summertime dinner - Pasta Salad.

Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

16 oz large pasta, cooked
2 large chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite sized pieces
1/2-1  red onion, sliced thinly
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
16 oz bottle Newman’s Own Creamy Caesar Dressing
5 oz parmesan cheese, shredded or shaved
To taste: Tabasco, oregano, salt, pepper

Combine all ingredients and chill before serving. But it’s actually wonderful at any temperature.

Although the recipe didn't call for it, I served it on a bed of chopped romaine and the kids devoured the lettuce. I really thought the plate needed the extra color and who couldn't use a few more veggies in their lives. (wink! wink!)

Spinach Salad with Hot Bacon Mustard Dressing

I have been having a hankering for a spinach salad, something unique and delicious. I haven't been feeling it with the traditional strawberry spinach salad and so I was looking for something a little bit different. 

I found a few salads with a Bacon and Mustard theme that sounded pretty good. Plus I was pretty sure the family would like the flavors. 

I started with This Recipe.  A good spinach salad recipe and I really liked the idea of the boiled eggs and the dried figs. (which I was prepared to substitute with dried dates)

The Next Recipe that I found suggested using apples, just like the first recipe did. So I decided that I was definitely going to be adding a chopped apple to the salad.

The only problem that I had now was a dressing. I didn't want to just put a bottle of dressing on this amazing salad. (not to mention that I didn't HAVE any honey mustard dressing in the fridge).  So I found This Recipe that included an amazing dressing. I also loved the addition of the swiss cheese and the mushrooms, so I was sure to add those too.

INGREDIENTS:
1 (10 ounce) bag baby spinach leaves
4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
4 strips crisply cooked bacon, crumbled
10 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large shallot, minced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
1/3 cup honey
2 strips crisply cooked bacon, crumbled
salt and pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS:
1. Place spinach into a large serving bowl, top with hard-cooked eggs, mushrooms, 4 crumbled strips of bacon, Swiss cheese, and almonds.
2. Heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Stir in shallots and garlic, and cook until softened and translucent, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, and 2 crumbled strips of bacon; season to taste with salt and pepper, then cook until hot.
3. Pour hot dressing over spinach and toss to coat.

Summer Meal Programs

This morning after I sent the kids off to school I realized this is the last Monday of the school year.  We are down to less than 9 days of school left for us. How exciting!

That means it is time to let you know about the summer meal programs in your area. If you were reading the blog last year, you know how much I love this program and what a life saver it is for me and the kids. There are a lot of additional supports and even more places offering summer lunch programs this year. I encourage you as much as I possibly can to get out there and take advantage of these programs. They are a great way to supplement your food budget, get yourself and your kids out of the house and most even have programs that can help you learn something! What an exciting addition to the summer.

Start Here - to find a local program near you.

Call the National Hunger Hotline at
1.866.3hungry
(1.866.348.6479)
or
1.877.8hambre
(1.877.842.6273)

Create a Wrap - Big Sandwich

When I first married my husband, he and his kids had this special meal they would call "the big sandwich". It was a french bread sandwich they would pick up from the local grocery store deli and take to the pool or to the park. When they introduced it to us, we absolutely loved it. It is hard not to fall in love with any food that is being served while you are having a good time at the park or at the pool. 

We have lots and lots of fond memories of packing up a big sandwich and heading on the road somewhere. Sometimes we would just pick one up and have dinner at the park because the kitchen was too hot to cook. 

But lately the local grocery store has not been making the big sandwich, and our family has grown so much that just picking up one sandwich doesn't feed everyone anymore.  So we have started having sandwich night at home. It turns out really fun and I really love it when food can not only be nourishing for the body, but for the spirit as well. 

The thing about "Big Sandwich" night is that it ends up being more of an anything goes on your sandwich night. We clean out the fridge and let the kids have their creativity run while.  We slice up an apple or a pear (which can be eaten ON your sandwich or just while you are standing in the kitchen deciding on your creation) We have some that like BBQ sauce and some that have to have 1000 Island Dressing. Some like spicy mustard and some are more traditional yellow mustard users.  We had some leftover olives from taco night that we got out and they were a huge hit. We had a loaf of bread, some tortillas and a bag of leftover hard rolls from French Dip night. 

Sandwiches are a great way to great creative in the kitchen. To let your kids (and yourself) explore new things that you might like. And they are a really great way to sneak some extra veggies into your diet. Spinach greens, bell peppers, cucumbers and sliced fruits make  fantastic additions to sandwiches. Your imagination is your only limit.

I have come to love Big Sandwich night, even more now that we are making our own. The kids surprise me with their creativity and we always have a good time being there together preparing dinner. 

Restaurant Style Salsa

May, along with being Salad month and Strawberry month is also Salsa month. What a great food month to be right smack in the middle of.  While the local tomatoes aren't in season yet here in Utah, it is easy to make fresh salsa at home with canned tomatoes. I absolutely love canned tomatoes with all their uses, and I always seem to have plenty of them in my pantry. 

This salsa is for a smooth style salsa, the type you can get at the big chain Mexican food restaurants with chips to start your meal. My kids go Ga-Ga over that type of salsa. All you need to make it at home are a few cans for tomatoes, a handful of fresh ingredients (that can really be about your preferences) and a blender or food processor. 

Ingredients

2 (14½ oz) cans diced tomatoes ( I like to use a can of tomatoes and a can of Ro-Tel)

1 medium onion ( I happened to have green onions today, so I used those instead of a white or yellow)

4 cloves garlic

1 jalapeño pepper, deseeded ( I used two because I was feeling Spicy today!)

2 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice ( I just used one of the plastic limes with juice, because I had that)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

1 tsp granulated garlic

6 tbsp cilantro ( I added a little more cilantro, because I had more in my bunch and I don't mind it tasting a lot like cilantro)

Instructions

Strain tomatoes and reserve juice. Roughly chop onion, fresh garlic, and jalapeño; add to food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add juice from tomatoes, lime juice, salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. Process on high for about 30 seconds.

Add about ½ cup of diced tomatoes and process on low for an extra 5 seconds. Add remaining tomatoes and cilantro and pulse until desired consistency is reached. It's ready to serve immediately, but you can also let it chill in the refrigerator overnight to let the flavors combine.

 

We ate some right away with chips to make sure it was good. And then we made nachos for afterschool snacks.  The rest I store in glass canning jars in the fridge with dates written on them so I know how long to keep them around. I never have to worry about it going "bad" here at my house. Salsa gets eaten on everything and anything.  

If you have a few minutes, and are in a Salsa mood, You should really blend up some of this amazing stuff. The recipe is super forgiving and you can add (or leave things out) to your own liking. It is a really safe recipe to experiment with and find exactly what you like.  Happy Salsa Month! Dips Away..... 

Simple Caesar Salad

I absolutely adore Caesar Salad. I think a lot of people do. Most restaurants have one on the menu. But it isn't something that a lot of us make at home. (at least not from scratch with the homemade dressing) I might just be speaking for myself, but I am really intimidated by the anchovies (scary!) and the raw eggs. 

So when I found this recipe that used Worchestershire sauce for the anchovies and mayonnaise for the eggs, I really dying to try it. 

Simple Caesar Salad

Serves 4 to 6

Garlic Croutons

4 cloves garlic

A generous 1/4 cup pure olive oil

2 packed cups 3/4″ bread cubes, cut from a good-quality baguette or Italian loaf

Large pinch of salt

Salad

3 romaine hearts, separated into whole leaves

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire

5 tablespoon pure olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

Ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (preferably Parmigiano Reggiano), plus extra for sprinkling.

We started making the croutons.  I was a little nervous to do this. Nobody actually makes homemade croutons, do they?

 

Just cut the bread and then toss it in a bowl with olive oil, salt and lots of garlic.  Then brown them up in a pan. Ours took between 5-7 minutes in a hot skillet. We did two separate batches so we would have lots of room in our pan. 

 The dressing was simple to whip together in a bowl and the mayonnaise in it helped it stay incorporated without too much effort to whip it together.

We found great lettuce and chopped it up. Not much easier than that! 

And WaLAH! The finished product. It tasted as delicious as it is beautiful.  My husband helped and we had it done in less than 1/2 hour and we added a cooked grocery store chicken for protein and it was a great dinner. 

This was the first time for a couple of the kids having a Caesar Salad. And they fell in love with it.  We had some croutons left over and they got munched down for a snack pretty fast.  I would make this for company in a heart beat and it would be impressive.  Don't be afraid to try it on your own. This will have you bragging about your salad skills to everyone!

Sesame Asparagus - Seasonal Eating

It is a rainy day today and feels cool and much more like April than May. But in spite of the weather and what it feels like today, we are still halfway through this wonderful season of Spring.  As a child Summer was my favorite season, ( I think it is most children's favorite) but as an adult I really appreciate Spring. 

I was reading an article the other day on seasonal eating and all the wonderful veggies that come available to us in the Spring season. Seasonal eating is not only really good for you because you are eating food at it's freshest, but it is also really good for your budget because the prices go down due to local availability and supply. 

Food $ense is a big supporter of  not just seasonal eating, but local food as well. The other day when I was at the store, they had some really great looking asparagus. I picked it up because I just love the stuff. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it yet, but I figured I would come home and research some ideas to see if I could find something fun and new to do with it.  

Asparagus has been traditionally served in fine dining restaurants with hollandaise sauce.  I think hollandaise sauce is really hard to make, but this easy hollandaise sauce recipe from Martha Stewart had me wondering if I might just attempt it at home. Eventually I decided it sounded a little bit too heavy for my mood. 

The next recipe that I was considering was a creamy mustard sauce. Doesn't that sound good? But the more I read, the less I was in the mood for it. The asparagus was served cold and although it might be refreshing in the warmer summer months, I wasn't feeling it for what I wanted to make. 

I ended up decided on this Sesame Asparagus recipe. I absolutely love roasted asparagus and the sesame seemed like a nice new twist. 

I chopped them up and put the pieces into a baggie with some oil, salt & pepper and tossed them to make sure they were each coated.  Pretty simple roasting techniques. Then I sprinkled some sesame seeds on them and popped them into the oven. That was IT! 

I served them as a side vegetable with roasted chicken and mashed potatoes. It was a simple dinner, but simple can be very delicious. Every enjoyed it and bellies were filled. 

Here are some more ideas from Fruit and Veggies More Matter if you are still looking for some fun new things to do with this great spring vegetable. 

May Day and Farmer's Markets

Here we are in the beautiful month of May. We put up with all those April showers (and snowfall) and we are ready for some May flowers. (and fresh salad greens, and radishes, and peas!) 

May is jumping on me this weekend like I spent the entire month of April doing nothing. This weekend, I have things that I "have" to be doing back to back and end to end all day long. There are even three separate things that my husband and I are having to split up and get the kids to separately just in order to actually get them there.  It is going to be a crazy weekend. 

I think about weekends (and weekdays too) like this and I wonder if you are like me and the last thing on your mind and on your list ends up being taking care of yourself and feeding your family nutritious food. (That after-soccer snack can count as lunch? Right?)  But in order to keep ourselves working at our best and to keep our family members at their happiest and healthiest we need to be eating the best food we can give ourselves. 

Luckily with the weather turning nice and things starting to grow the farmer's markets, local road side stands, and large growers' markets will soon be opening for business.  I have gathered some information on how to help you find those local stands near you, if you don't know where to start. 

National

USDA Website - This is the USDA National Marketing Service. You just put in your zip code and you can find out what payment methods are accepted, what products and services are offered and the hours and days it will be open. 

PBS Food - They not only have a searchable map, but they list the other national and local searches that you can do yourself to find a market. 

Local Harvest - This is a website that not only lets you search the local markets, but also posts reviews of them and has specialty markets - like honey growers - listed. 

Utah Local - 

This is a photo from last year's Food $ense Farmer's Market Cookbook. It has not only listed the major farmer's markets in the state, but tell you if they accept EBT cards and have a Food $ense booth for demonstrations and helpful knowledge (Plus Samples YUM!) 

Salt Lake Tribune -  This is an extensive list that was printed last spring, but the list includes not just large farmer's markets, but farm stands and road side markets as well.  It is a great list to help those of us who don't live in a large populated area.

Utah's Own - This website had a searchable map as well as information for what to expect in season and links to co-ops and county extension agents.

Edible Wasatch - This website is searchable by region, so even if you aren't close to home, you could perhaps visit a market that is new to you.

Don't forget what a great resource the Food $ense website can be to you, as well as your local county website.