Beet Salad

This salad hails from my days spent as a Russian, and is only one of the many, many types of beet salads out there in that Slavic world.
This particular salad is called Vinagrette, and though like all salads it has many variations, its general components are usually the eponymous beets, apple, onion, cucumber, pickles, parsley or possible dill. I didn't have any pickles or cucumber, and no parsley, but I had beets, onion, apple and dill. You basically chop it all up, mix it all together, and let it marinate in a sweetened vinegar in the fridge until wanted for eating.
It keeps well, tastes good, and is probably full of vitamins.

Beet Salad
- 2 roasted beets, cubed (can used canned)
- 1/2 small sweet onion, diced
- 1/2 tart apple, diced
- fresh dill, chopped
- 1/4 c red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar

As said above, chop everything up, mix everything together, combine the sugar and vinegar and pour over top of the beet-apple-onion mixture, sprinkle with dill, stir it all up and stick it in the fridge to wait for you. Optionally, you can lightly dry-saute (w/out oil) the onions a bit to intensify their sweetness before adding.


linked up at Side Dish Saturdays over at Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

Charred Zucchini Salad

This is an original recipe of mine, and one of my favorites not just because I made it up, but also because it's freakin delicious!

Every summer I grow way too many Zucchinis and have to figure out what to do with them. In the past I've made stir frys, fritters, breads. I've pickled them, stuffed them, even eaten them raw.

And then I came up with this salad. It requires a little bit of forethought, just for the needed marinating and chilling prior to serving, but the final product is well worth it.

Deep and savory, yet refreshingly light, this salad gets all its freshness straight from the garden. It is simple goodness and a consistent crowd pleaser at summer barbecues. This is a recipe for your recipe books. Give it a try, you'll be happy you did.

CHARRED ZUCCHINI SALAD

(serves 4)

- 2 medium zucchinis, sliced in 1/2 inch rounds

- 1 small red onion, peeled

- 1 c garden cherry tomatoes

- fresh basil, chopped

- 1/4 c asiago, shredded

dressing

- 1/8 c Balsamic Vinegar

- 1/8 c Balsamic Hot Sauce

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 1 tbsp dried Basil

- 1 tbsp dried Oregano

- 1 tsp Black Pepper

Marinate sliced zucchini and the whole onion in dressing for at least 3 hours. Turn on grill and spray with cooking spray. Grill zucchini, basting with dressing as it cooks, until charred on one side, then flip, and remove from grill when charred on the other side. Cook and baste onion until soft and tender, remove from grill, and let cool before slicing into thin strips. In a bowl mix zucchini, onion, and quartered cherry tomatoes with chopped basil, cover and let sit in fridge, letting the flavors combine until cool. Top with shredded asiago before serving, and get ready to take all the delicious credit (except for inventing it!).
This Awesomeness was shared on;
Seasonal Saturdays on Bella Vita's Blog

Craisy Good

The key to good cooking is enjoying it, and I take more pleasure in cooking for others than cooking for myself. Although making a salad isn't quite what I called cooking, when Mom wanted a salad for dinner, I happily took advantage of the opportunity to play. She declared the end result delicious and crazy good (read craisy good), high praise for a simple steak salad.

Craisy Steak Salad
- chopped romaine
- fresh thyme, chopped
- 1/4 sweet onion sliced thin
- 1/4 orange bell pepper, sliced thin
- 1 leftover corn on the cob
- 6 oz leftover filet mignon (or other steak)
- handful craisins
- handful crushed walnuts
dressing
- 1/4 c red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp walnut oil
- 1/4 c casis liquor
- 1 tsp stone ground mustard
- 1/4 tsp ground thyme
- 1/2 tsp honey

Lightly saute onions till just soft then add a splash of brandy and remove from heat. Heat leftover steak till just warmed on the outside and soft again, but not heated through. Cool and slice thin. Mix chopped romaine with chopped thyme and bell pepper. Top corn sliced off of the cob, onions, steak, craisins and walnuts, dressing, and finally crumbled blue cheese.