Crunchy Asian Salad

We eat  lots of salad.  But sometimes you get into a salad rut.  Yes.  Even if you use "fancy" lettuces - and make your own salad dressing.  So - here is a great crunchy salad that has boatloads of flavor (I adapted from a recipe by Lee Goss.)  You can adapt this in a number of ways because it holds up really well.  The first night I served this, I did an Asian theme - dressing, marinated some red snapper fillets in ginger, lime and olive oil, etc...  The second night I added romaine lettuce to whatever was left (I typically do not dress the salad - the kids prefer to dress it themselves) and made a basic balsamic vinagrette. 

So here you go- adapt/add/modify as you will!

1 cup arugula or other spicy type of lettuce
1 head of bok choy - chop into pieces including the green leafy part
1/2 savoy cabbage, shredded
1 cup of julienned carrots (I just use a cup from a bag of shredded carrots)
1 bunch arugula
1 bunch of basil leaves chopped
1 bunch of mint leaves chopped
1 bunch of italian parley chopped
1 English cucumber (seedless), sliced thinly into rounds (do not peel)
3/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts (you can omit these if you want)

Some things to consider adding:  thin sliced chili, 1-2 scallions cut on a diagonal, chopped watercress, chopped cilantro

Toss everything together with the Asian dressing below or your favorite dressing!

Asian Dressing

1 whole shallot - minced
1 clove of garlic - chopped finely
1 teaspoon of minced fresh ginger
Zest and juice of 2 limes
Zest and juice of 1 lemon or orange
1 tablespoon of rice vinegar
3 teaspoons tamari or soy sauce
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
1/4 teaspoon of hot pepper sesame oil
2-3 tablespoons of honey (check for balance of sweet and sour at the end - add more honey if you like)

Mix everything together.

By the way - the kids loved the crunchiness of the salad (I served the peanuts on the side for them to sprinkle over) and they also tried the dressing - which they then proceeded to dip their veggies in!

Have fun and enjoy!!

Easy peanut butter cookies

So a couple of things.

First of all - Happy New Year!  I hope that everyone's year is filled with health, happiness, peace and good eating!

Second - I apologize for not keeping up with the blog.  I have been doing lots of cooking, but life has interfered with my writing stuff down.  My goal for this year is to put a new recipe/post up at least once a week.

Third - for those that have been reading and commenting on my blog - Thank You!  I am supposed to receive notification when someone e-mails and for some reason have not been notified.  I realized just the other day as  I was going through past posts that people other than my dad are reading this blog!

So - welcome to all!

Back to the post at hand.  I am not much of a baker, as many of you are aware.  However, I was recently provided with a wonderful peanut butter cookie recipe that is so easy I had to share.  The kids helped make the cookies and decorated them with sprinkles.  You can certainly add a cup of chocolate chips/chopped nuts/ etc.  The recipe will hold up.

Are you ready?

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup of peanut butter
1 cup of sugar
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix everything together until blended well (if you are adding chocolate chips/etc. do it now)
3. Drop in one teaspoon balls onto cookie/baking sheet (you do not need to butter the sheet)
2. Bake for 30 minutes.

Yes.  That easy - and they are pretty tasty too.  Very peanuty!  Enjoy!