Salad Dressing - Easy Peasy

Hey everyone! Julie J was kind enough to share this recipe she found here. Although I haven't had time to try it out, I felt neglectful of this poor little blog so I wanted to get a recipe up here for you! She assured it was yummy and quite easy when you just throw everything in a mason jar, so give it a try! AND you don't have to deal with High Fructose Corn Syrup!! yay!!!

Since I didn't make it I don't have a picture. :( but just imagine a jar full of liquidy goodness!

Ingredients

Dressing:

• 3/4 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan, more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• Dash or 2 of paprika
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and left whole

Salad:

• Green lettuce leaves
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup red grape tomatoes, halved

Directions

Place the olive oil, Parmesan, salt, pepper to taste, sugar, paprika, lemon juice and garlic into a jar. Shake it up and store in the fridge at least 24 hours before serving.

Serve the dressing with green lettuce leaves, sliced red onions and halved grape tomatoes. Also works well on pasta salad.

Avocado, White Corn & Black Bean Salad

I'm super excited to share this next recipe with you all! This one is coming at you from Julie J. When she sent me the recipe I was looking forward to making it so I could:
1.  Have pictures to show you of the awesome salad.
2.  Eat it! And oh-boy is this one tasty!

I made this Friday night for my parents, and it went so well my mom made sure she had the recipe before she left! We ate it with fajita style chicken on tortillas as our salsa garnish, but since making it I've had the leftovers on salad and as a dip with blue corn chips. Really, you can't go wrong with this; super simple, fast, and easy.

  

Ingredients:
1 ripe avocado, diced into cubes
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1/4 c. each of colored bell peppers, cut in 1/2 pieces
1/3 c. red onion, sliced
1/2 c. fresh white  or bicolor corn, cut off the cob (can use shoe peg white frozen corn)
Juice from 1 lime, strained
1/2 t, kosher salt
4T olive oil
1/2 t chili powder, cumin
1 T fresh cilantro, minced

Mix avocado, beans & onion.  Put 2 T. Olive oil in a large skillet over med high heat.  Add corn, bell peppers.  Next add chili powder & cumin to the skillet.  Sauté until corn and peppers are soft, 3-5 minutes.  Add warm corn mixture to bean mixture & cilantro. Finally, combine juice from 1 lime plus 2T olive oil. Add kosher salt.  Whisk juice, olive oil and salt.
Pour over bean,corn mixture.  Combine all ingredients .  Serve with blue chips or toasted pita.

Coriander-Crusted Fish with Chickpea Artichoke Salad

Another great recipe hot off the presses. Wendy sent this little gem to me, describing it as super simple and one no one walks away from without loving it. She made it on a girls weekend, and it got rave reviews! I'm excited to try it for myself!!

Coriander-Crusted Fish with Chickpea Artichoke Salad

Total Time - 15 minutes / Makes 4 Servings

Coriander-Crusted Fish

Ingredients

3 tablespoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pepper
4 fish fillets (salmon, tuna, or swordfish; 1 1/2 lb)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Steps

1. Preheat large sauté pan on medium-high 2–3 minutes. Combine coriander, salt, and pepper; then coat both sides of fish (wash hands).
2. Place oil in pan, then add fish; cook 3–4 minutes on each side or until 145°F and fish flakes easily. May be served over Chickpea Salad (recipe below).

Chickpea Artichoke Salad

Ingredients

1/2 cup canned quartered artichokes, finely chopped
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
1 bag baby arugula leaves (4–5 oz)
1/2 cup canned chickpeas (garbanzos), drained and rinsed
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Prep

• Chop artichokes and onion.

Steps

1. Combine arugula, chickpeas, onions, and artichokes.
2. Whisk vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper until blended; add to salad. Toss and serve.

The original recipe can be found here.