tonight's supper: goat cheese and craisin salad

How do you make a salad taste special? Throw some craisins at it. And while you're throwing things, chuck some goat cheese that way. A drizzle of olive oil a pinch of basil and done.

I love salads. I crave salads. Weird, right? But D, well, not so much. Usually when I suggest salad as a side dish I get a blank stare in return. But when I suggest adding goat cheese I get a much more enthusiastic response. 

Half the fun is making a salad less "healthy", really. I love grabbing for some real bacon bits, creamy dressing and cheese... oh, the cheese. D even told me tonight that this tasted like a fancy restaurant salad! A restaurant salad. Swoooon. We paired our "fancy salad" with turkey bacon quiche with yellow pepper. I always use those ready-made frozen pie shells to save time. It only took about 35 minutes to cook in the oven at 425. Not a lot of prep/cook time for an easy, week-night dinner that's a little special. 

How do you dress up your salads? Feta? Nuts?

Tasty Tuesdays: How have you bean?

Hi everyone,

Today I've got an original (aka. thrown-together) recipe for 3-bean salad with feta. It can easily be ready in 10 minutes and it goes really well with fish, chicken or rice. Because of the cumin & coriander it's different than most bean salads which rely on vinegar. This one has no vinegar but gets it's flavour from the feta and spices. Check it out:

3-Bean Salad with Feta
*Serves 3-4

1/2 c. edamame
1/2 c. green beans
1/2 cup chick peas, drained

1/4 c. raisins
1/8 c. crumbled feta cheese
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cumin
2 tsp olive oil
a couple shakes of ground coriander
pinch salt

Put your raisins in a small bowl and cover with hot tap water. Cook up your frozen edamame & green beans in the microwave. I put mine in a covered, microwave dish and nuke them for about 2-3 minutes. Drain them, put them back in the dish & add the chick peas.

Add the olive oil, spices + salt. Crumble the feta on top & mix well. Drain the raisins and throw them in. Stir it up and bam. You're done.

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I added some extra cumin to mine, but I think I may love it more than the average person so feel free to experiment a bit! And trust me, don't skip out on soaking your raisins. It makes such a difference because they plump right up.

xo Janelle

PS- I ate it too fast to get any pictures... but I think you can figure it out!

Me, Abby & Cucumber salad

Hello everyone,

Here's a little peek at what I had for supper tonight. Leftover panang chicken from Cha Baa Thai on Queen St (hot hot hot) & thrown-together cucumber salad to cut the heat a bit.

To make the salad just slice an English cucumber nice and thin & lay it on some paper towels (or Kleenex). Sprinkle some salt on top to help them dry out.

Spoon some plain yogurt in a bowl. Add pepper, coriander, cumin and just a bit of chili powder. Mix well & add cucumbers. Refrigerate for 30 minutes if you have time. Enjoy!

Easy-peasy. 

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This is what we're up to tonight:

I had to retype the end of this post because as I was writing she was simultaneously trying to sit on my arm, type on the keyboard, chomp on my belt and lick my face. One of her keyboard attempts posted this before it was finished.

We're off for a walk to burn off some energy.

Good night,

xo Janelle & Abby