Light and Lemony Poppy Seed Dressing

This simple dressing goes together in the blink of an eye, and is perfect for any light summer salad. It will keep in your fridge for up to a week with no problem. 

Light and Lemony Poppy Seed Dressing

½ cup olive oil

2 Tbsp raw apple cider vinegar

Juice of 1 Lemon

2 Tbsp Maple syrup

1 tsp Herbamare or sea salt

2 Tbsp poppy seeds

Measure all ingredients into a 2 cup mason jar. Screw on Metal lid, shake well, and use on salad of choice. 

Pictured on fresh garden lettuce and baby
kale, avocado and tomato

Pictured on a quick salad of grapefruit, avocado
and chiffonade-ed basil. A quick and tasty lunch!

How to "chiffonade" basil: 

stack basil leaves in a pile...

roll them up like a cigar
as best you can...

thinly slice with knife, ta da! Basil Chiffonade!

Creamy Probiotic Rich Salad Dressing

This batch is made with garlic chives
and parsley

Gardening season is in full swing and our lettuce is growing like crazy…giving salads a starring role on our daily menus!  I love it when we can pick lettuce straight from the garden and have it in a salad within minutes. Although we never seem to get bored with salads, I do like to change up the dressings we use to keep it fresh and fun. This has become one of my favourite dressings lately to top these lovely fresh greens.  I like to use both kefir and yogurt in it. Kefir and yogurt, although both fermented milk products, vary in the bacterial cultures they contain. If you want to read more on the differences between the two, this article is great. Cultured/fermented food consumption dates back to ancient times. Great for immunity, gut health, digestion and more, I try and incorporate fermented foods in our diet on a regular basis. (Click here for a great article on fermented foods from Cheeseslave.)   Using kefir and yogurt gives this dressing a big Probiotic punch. Add some fresh herbs from the garden, and you have an awesome nutritional powerhouse to top your fresh greens.

This batch is made with fresh dill

Creamy Probiotic Rich Salad Dressing

¾ cup full fat dairy kefir

¾ cup full fat non-homogenized yogurt

1/3 cup avocado oil

1 tsp Herbamare, or other sea salt of choice

1 tsp coarsely ground fresh black pepper

1 clove minced garlic

½ cup chopped herbs: dill, basil, parsley, chives, cilantro, garlic chives, etc!(pick one or a combo of your choice!)

Measure all ingredients into a 2 cup mason jar. Screw on a metal lid, shake well. Serve on salad of choice. Store leftovers in fridge for 4-5 days.

My Garden :)

Creamy Vegetable Salad with Fresh Dill

The sense of smell is amazing. It can transport us back to another place and time with one small whiff of a certain scent or smell. Like the first time I smelled bottled white grape juice. All of a sudden I was standing (in my mind, no teleporting involved) in my grandparents’ back yard, under their grape arbor, surrounded by the tart green grapes that grew so heavy on those vines. One sniff and I was back in a childhood memory so vivid, I could picture every detail of their yard and garden, and taste the sweet tartness of those grapes.

This recipe has nothing to do with grapes, but it does involve another scent that brought back a memory, and made me create this recipe. We were shopping this week at Oakridge Acres in Ayr, Ontario and they had these little bags of fresh organic dill, the delicate feathery kind that is so aromatic. As I brought the bag up to my nose, I was suddenly transported (again, no teleporting!) to a vegetarian restaurant that we used to go to in Guelph years ago. The name escapes me, but on this particular visit, I ordered a crisp vegetable salad that was bursting with fresh dill. The tangy bright flavor of the dill was perfectly balanced by the crunch of the veggies and the creamy dressing; it lodged itself deeply in the flavor vaults of my brain. At that time of my life, not being the foodie I am now, I simply enjoyed the salad and moved on. The thought of getting the recipe never crossed my mind.  One whiff of this dill though, and I knew I had to recreate the salad that left such an impression on my taste buds all those years ago.

Although this dressing is very creamy, there is no dairy involved.  I have been using cashews a lot more in the kitchen lately, and they were the perfect base for this salad. They have the ability, when blended, to create a velvety thick dressing without the need for dairy. They also add protein (18 grams in a full cup), healthy fat and decent amounts of magnesium, iron and B-6, among other things!

This salad keeps well in the fridge for a few days; just give a stir if it has been sitting.

 Creamy Vegetable Salad with Dill

Dressing:

1 cup raw cashews

2 small cloves of garlic

½ tsp Herbamare or other sea salt

2/3 cup water

Veggies:

2 -3 carrots, peeled and sliced into thin rounds

2-3 stalks celery, chopped

3 cups chopped cauliflower

2 small zucchini, chopped

½ of a red pepper, seeded and chopped

½ cup chopped fresh dill

Salt and pepper to taste

Dressing: 

Place dressing ingredients into a blender and whiz until creamy and smooth.  Set aside.

Veggies: 

Prepare all veggies and place in a large bowl. Add dressing and dill, toss to coat. Serve immediately or chill. Store leftovers in fridge for up to a few days.

Bruschetta Egg Skillet with Spinach and Fresh Basil

I made this for my oldest son one night for a quick dinner, when he said he had no time to eat before driving school. I literally had it on his plate within 7 minutes flat. I remade it for my hubby for brunch on one of our days off together, and remembered to take  pictures so I could post it. The Bruschetta topping is a recipe that I used in the first cooking class that I taught at Goodness Me. I shared this idea with the class, because the Bruschetta topping is so versatile, it pays to make extra.

Bruschetta Egg Skillet with Spinach and Fresh Basil

3 cups roughly chopped organic baby spinach

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp butter

6 eggs

½ tsp Herbamare or sea salt of choice

½ cup Bruschetta mixture (recipe below)

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp Chopped fresh basil (or sub other fresh herbs of choice, garlic chives would be awesome!)

Beat eggs in a medium mixing bowl, add Herbamare and stir to combine. Set aside

Preheat broiler to high, and move  rack to the upper half of the oven.

Heat oil and butter in a medium to large cast iron (or other oven safe) pan over medium high heat. Sauté spinach until wilty, 1-2 minutes. Add beaten eggs, and let cook undisturbed for a few minutes. Using a wooden spatula, tip the pan slightly and pull the cooked egg back from the edge of the pan, letting the uncooked egg run underneath. Repeat around the pan a few times, until the eggs are almost set on top, this should take just a few minutes.

Remove pan from heat. Spoon the Bruschetta mix evenly around the pan on top of the almost cooked eggs, top with grated cheese, and place under broiler until the edges of the egg are starting to brown nicely, and the cheese is just starting to bubble. Keep an eye on it at all times, you don't want it to burn!!

Remove from broiler (remember the handle will be hot!!!) and cut into 4 wedges in the pan. Remove each wedge to a plate and top with chopped herbs. Serve hot and enjoy!

Bruschetta Topping

1 410g can diced tomatoes, drained well

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small clove of garlic, minced

1 tbsp chopped fresh basil (or 2 tsp dried)

¾ tsp salt

Grind of fresh black pepper

Splash of balsamic vinegar

Topping Directions:

Drain tomatoes well, add other ingredients and stir well to combine.  Let stand for ½ hr for flavours to meld. If using dried basil, let stand closer to an hour for the basil to rehydrate.

Herby French Style Dressing

We are having a very slow start to spring here, but my herbs are coming along nicely. They are usually the first green thing that we can eat from the garden, and I use them all thru the growing season. This dressing needed some perking up, and the handful of herbs from the garden was perfect. I used chives, garlic chives and thyme here, just be sure to remove any tough stems before chopping. You could substitute any other fresh herb that you like, basil and oregano would be lovely!

Herby French Style Dressing

½ cup olive oil

½ cup apple cider vinegar (one that is raw and unpasteurized, with the “mother” like Filsingers or Braggs)

2 T Hemp Oil (optional, see the benefits of hemp oil here)

2 tsp paprika

2 tsp coconut sugar

1 tsp Herbamare

¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper

Juice of ½ organic lemon

4-5 tbsp fresh herbs, finely chopped

Pictured in a patio  pot of salad greens 

Measure all ingredients into a two cup mason jar. Shake well to combine. Serve over greens of choice.  Keeps in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Roasted Tomato Confit with Thyme

 A few weeks back, I wrote a note about the grain free zucchini pancakes that I made for a quick lunch one day, and waxed a little poetic on what else they would be good topped with. Well, I came up with a beautiful tomato confit, roasted with sprigs of thyme, that was AMAZING on the pancakes. So good that I am making another batch tonight, because I think it will be just as amazing with our with our bbq’d chicken thighs tonight!

The recipe is a bit shy on measurements, it is one of what I call my scoop and dump recipes, but it is pretty easy, and this gives you a general idea.

Fill your pan (whatever size you wish) with halved or quartered tomatoes in a single layer. Quarter a few cloves of garlic, and add them to the pan. Take some fresh thyme sprigs and nestle them in among the tomatoes, and give a few grinds of sea salt and black pepper. Follow this with a healthy drizzle of olive oil (I usually do not cook with olive oil, but the heat for these tomatoes is not crazy high, and the flavour really marries well with the tomatoes)

Place in a preheated 300 F oven, for about an hour. You will know they are done when the tomatoes have released a lot of their juices, and they are just starting to brown on the edges. 

Remove the thyme sprigs before serving, as the stems are woody.

Serve warm or cold. Enjoy!!

Thyme Infused Creamy Tomato Veggie Soup

Thyme is one of my favourite herbs, and I discovered last year that you can have fresh thyme all winter if you cover it with something to keep the snow off of it.  I pulled a few stems today, from underneath all the snow that covers my herb garden at present, and used it to infuse this tomato soup.  Dried thyme can be used if you don’t have access to fresh.

The sour cream that is added at the end is by no means necessary, but it adds a nice creamy finish to an already tasty soup. Enjoy!

Thyme Infused Creamy Tomato Veggie Soup

Thyme bundle

1 med onion chopped

1 lg carrot chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp butter

1- 28 oz can organic diced tomatoes

2 cups beef bone broth (or veggie or chicken)

Bundle of fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried

Generous tsp each of oregano and basil

1/4 cup sour cream (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a medium heavy bottomed pot. Add the onions, celery carrot and garlic and sauté over medium heat until they just start to brown a wee bit.

Add the can of diced tomatoes, the beef stock, the bundle of thyme if using, and the rest of the herbs .  Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer covered for 15-20 min or until the veggies are all tender.

Remove bundle of thyme (if using), and then puree  the soup with hand blender until as smooth as desired.

Stir in sour cream if using, and season to taste with salt and pepper.