Creamy Herb Dressing

The fresh dill really gives it a wonderful punch.  I added it to a salad of torn romaine & red leaf lettuce, red peppers & fried onions.  It is also delicious with tuna & tomatoes for a healthy lunch.

Creamy Herb Dressing

Cooking Light, July 2011

1/2 tsp of grey salt & of black pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1/4 cup of Olive Oil Mayo
1 1/2 tsp chopped dill
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon water

Add all ingredients in a carafe and shake well.  Enjoy!

Simple Cucumber Salad

Lemon cucumbers anyone? I had never heard of them until I received them last week. Odd looking, but very tasty. They sent me on a search for a cucumber salad recipe. Not a creamy dill or Asian crunch variety, but the old southern one. The one I have had so many times, but I really never thought about until now. Every recipe I found included a cup of sugar. In our house we try to never add a cup of sugar to anything but a dessert. The following is what I came up with. Healthy, seasonal & very refreshing. Keeping with the simplified theme for the week - Hope you enjoy.




Cucumber Salad
3 to 4 medium cucumbers
1/4 to 1/2 Sweet Onion
Mediterranean Sea Salt
Pepper
1/4 cup Champagne Vinegar

Peel and remove the seeds from the cucumbers. Roughly dice. Thinly slice the onion and add to cucumbers. Add S&P to taste and toss the cucumber and onions with the champagne vinegar. Refrigerate for several hours & serve. The longer it marinates the better it becomes. Dill would be a welcomed addition.
Also the measurements are purely subjective depending on the size of your cucumbers.
For the record only one of the lemon cucumbers made it into the salad - the other two were quickly devoured!!!

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes...

I have become obsessed with tomatoes. My husband is one of those who would rather go to the dentist than eat a raw tomato (even though he loves salsa - go figure). When I finally accepted he wasn't going to give them a try I gave up. I stopped buying them at the farmer's market and only picked them up at the grocery store when needed. Well that was until we joined Grow Alabama. The weekly CSA deliveries have been overflowing with tomatoes. We have had heirloom, hybrid, cherry and varieties that I really had to see to believe (aka green zebra). The taste of a farm fresh Alabama tomato is unbeatable.
I had a night to myself last week and decided tomato salad was for dinner. There is no need for a formal recipe, because basically I used what was around & the outcome was delicious. I alternated slices of heirloom tomato (2, marinated) with slices of grilled eggplant (one small), several dollops of light blue cheese dressing, topped with crumbled turkey bacon (2 slices), fresh basil, okra croutons & S&P. This was my entire dinner, but the proportions would be perfect for two as a side dish. The okra croutons are simply the frozen breaded, sliced okra. I bake them in the oven at 375 for about 40 minutes just coated in cooking spray (we eat this all the time as a side). I think what really kicked this salad up was that I marinated the tomato slices in a dressing of balsamic & champagne vinegar, salt & pepper and fresh basil for about 30 minutes. As I said no recipe is needed because at this point the marinated tomatoes could stand alone as a great salad, and even better with a little goat cheese.
I have also learned tomatoes should not be refrigerated & stored stem side down. Hope you enjoy!!!