A Salad Even Salad-Haters Will Love - Fruity Spinach Salad Goodness

Hear me out. This salad will make everyone moan in happiness. The key is in the homemade dressing. Kids, picky eaters, and veggie lovers will all be asking you how you did it.

This recipe makes enough dressing for 4-8 servings of salad, so simply pop leftover into the refrigerator and reuse as a dressing or as a marinade. Good for 1-2 weeks.
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Fruity Spinach Salad with Homemade Honey-Orange Dressing
Serves 2

Ingredients:

Dressing-
1/2 cup orange juice
6 Tbsp vegetable oil or canola oil
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp paprika


Salad-
2 heaping handfuls of organic spinach, separated
1/2 cup dried cherries, cranberries, or 1 cup fresh strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries
1/2 cup toasted pecans
1 oz goat cheese, crumbled


To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a container with a tight lid and shake until the honey is thoroughly mixed in. The oil will want to separate so just re-shake slightly before dressing the salad.


Place one heaping handful of spinach in a bowl (do the same with the other handful). Top with half the fruit, half the nuts, and half of the cheese.


Just before serving, drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of the dressing over the salad.


Perfection! Sweet, crunchy, nutty, fresh, tart, and super yummy. Your mouth will thank you.
 

Weekend Breakfast Favorite - Poached Eggs over Garlic Parmesan Toast

This breakfast is what I make for myself every Sunday. It's my favorite breakfast and it only takes minutes for a flavor-packed, rich, fresh meal.

It is best to use very fresh eggs when poaching. Eggs fresh from the Farmer's Market are ideal, but during the winter I buy organic, free-range eggs from my local grocer. The darker the yolk, the better!

Because I don't have an egg poacher, I drop two metal round cookie cutters into the water and slip my eggs into them to cook. This helps them retain their shape and prevents them from sticking to each other or the pot.
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Poached Eggs over Garlic-Parmesan Toast
Serves 1-2

Ingredients:
2 fresh organic eggs
2 pieces of bread, an English muffin, or leftover baguette
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
1 garlic clove, peeled and whole
extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste


1. Bring a pot of salted water to a gentle boil. Reduce to a simmer. Crack eggs into the cookie cutters/egg poacher/water. Poach for 3 1/2 - 4 minutes.
2. In the meantime, toast your bread in a toaster oven or toaster. Piercing the clove lengthwise with a fork (to prevent the garlic oils from stinking up your hands), rub the raw garlic into the toast. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and top the center of one piece of toast with half of the Parmesan and then the other.
3. Using a slotted spoon, remove an egg from the water and gently tip against the side of the pot to remove excess liquid. Place on top of the toast and cheese. Repeat with the other egg.
4. Top both eggs with a nice pinch of finishing salt and a good sprinkling of pepper.


**For extra nutritional punch - add some steamed spinach, finely sliced asparagus, or a slice of tomato beneath the cheese.

Strawberry (Fruit) Granita Dessert

This is a delightfully simply dessert that is a perfect summer treat. I choose to set these into 8 individual ramekins with lids for portion control, but you could do this in a larger pan and just serve it to a larger group that way.

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Strawberry (Fruit) Granita Dessert

1 1/3 cups water
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups strawberry juice (or any fruit juice - use fresh juice, not concentrate)

1. Combine water and sugar in a saucepan over low heat. Stir gently until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool.
2. Stir in fruit juice.
3. Pour mixture into pan or ladle into ramekins.
4. Freeze for at least 4 hours to allow to set. 
5. Serve!

Handmade Pasta with Asparagus and Cream Sauce

I highly recommend having a pasta roller/pasta machine when making pasta from scratch. It's a delicious and easy way to ensure you have the freshest pasta. The first time I made this dish, I had to hand-roll out the pasta and while it tasted delicious, it was quite thick. If you need to hand-roll the dough, make it tissue-paper thin (break it into smaller batches if you have limited counter space).

The pasta recipe is courtesy of Jamie Oliver.

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Handmade Pasta with Asparagus and Cheese Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients:

600 grams/4 1/2 cups of super fine flour

6 organic eggs or 12 egg yolks

1 bunch of fresh asparagus

creamy cheese sauce of your choice or see below

10-12 leaves of fresh sage, chopped

1/4 Parmesan cheese

salt & pepper, to taste

extra virgin olive oil

1. Using a food processor, mix the two ingredients together until you have something that resembles damp breadcrumbs.

2. Lightly flour your work surface and then bring the dough together using your hands. Knead the dough until it begins to soften. This will take some time and muscle. Just keep going until it starts to feel very silky. If the dough is too damp, bring in some of the flour. If it's too dry, add a touch of water. It's much better to be too damp so I err on the side of one extra yolk.

3. Once the dough is silky and brought together, wrap in plastic and set in the fridge to chill for at least a half hour.

4. Set a large stockpot of water to boil. Salt the water and cover.

5. Wash the asparagus and snap off the bottoms where the stalks naturally break. Cut each stalk into 3-4 pieces. Cutting on the diagonal makes the cuts look pretty.

6. When your dough is ready, run your dough through the pasta roller at the widest setting and then fold the dough in half and run it through again. Repeat 3-4 times to just soften the dough. Then roll it out, making it narrower with each run until its very thin. Flour when necessary very lightly to keep the dough workable. Using a knife, cut your own noodles to your desired width. Shake them up to break them apart. If rolling out by hand, use a similar method but be sure to make the dough even and very thin.

7. When the water is boiling, add both the asparagus and the noodles. Cover. Allow to cook for 1 to 2 minutes. 

8. While the pasta is cooking, heat your sauce. Add the fresh sage, salt and pepper.

9. Drain the pasta and asparagus. Toss with your sauce. Plate the mixture and top with the Parmesan cheese as well as a small drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

*Creamy Cheese Sauce

I tend to make my own cream/cheese sauce and each time it changes a little. A favorite is 1 tablespoon of butter, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup creme fraiche, handful of shredded fontina cheese, salt, and pepper. Melt it all together and add in an egg yolk at the end just before tossing with the pasta. Delicious!