Salads – Oven Love

Broccoli Salad with Homemade Mayo (Guest Post)

Natalie — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 05:03:37 +0000

Today, we’ll be making the marathon 10 hour drive from GA to OH (make that 14 with the kids?). I’m glad to be on our way to getting settled in our new home, but it will be a long and bittersweet day, for sure. While I’m listening to my “Leaving GA” playlist and sobbing on the road, you get the treat of meeting Allison from The Sprouting Seed!

Allison is a nutritionist with a B.S. in Nutritional Science and a full-time mom. She got her start as a nutritionist and breastfeeding counselor at WIC. This was before she moved half way across the world to live in Central Europe, where she learned about real food, vibrant health, and traditional methods of preparation. Allison has found a way to make friends with little old ladies around the world and loves to share their time-tested secrets of life.

So glad to have her here on the blog today. And with a dynamite recipe for broccoli salad, no less! I am normally not a mayo fan.. but I think I will have to try her homemade mayo recipe– it looks amazing.

Broccoli is my favorite veggie. But I’ll be honest, I usually like it one way and one way only: lightly steamed, then sautéed with garlic. It’s simple, delicious, and I rarely feel the need to broaden my broccoli repertoire.

Lately, however, things have changed. I’ve been jazzing up all my vegetable dishes and not even broccoli could escape my creative streak. I started by frying zucchini fritters and grating cauliflower into “rice”. Then, I broke away from the well-beaten path of my broccoli recipe and ventured into new terrain. What did I make? Well, Broccoli Salad, of course!

This salad is hearty and delicious. It features raw broccoli, a homemade mayonnaise dressing and, you guessed it, bacon! I originally made it as a side dish, but lately I’ve been loving a big bowl of Broccoli Salad for dinner. It’s easy to whip up and sure to please. As an added bonus–using homemade mayonnaise instead of the store-bought version turns this dish into a powerhouse of nutrients. Bon Appetite!

Broccoli Salad with Homemade Mayo (Guest Post)

Author: Allison Jordan

Recipe type: SIde Dish, Salad

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

2 heads of broccoli, stalks removed, cut into small florets
6-8 slices of bacon
¼ purple onion, finely diced
½ cup crispy pecans, chopped
¼ cup dried cranberries or raisins
¾ cup homemade mayonnaise (recipe found here: http://thesproutingseed.com/homemade-mayonnaise/)
3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp raw, local honey

Instructions

In a skillet, fry bacon over medium high heat until evenly crisp. Remove the bacon, drain excess grease and crumble the bacon into small pieces.
In medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, vinegar and honey and whisk until combined. Mix in broccoli florets, cranberries, and onion. Toss ingredients until the broccoli is thoroughly coated with the mayonnaise dressing.Just before serving, add the bacon and crispy pecans.

16 Summer Sweet Potato Recipes

Natalie — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 06:30:23 +0000

Last week, I shared my favorite summer chicken recipes. Today, I’m back with 16 ways to use the humble sweet potato. (I’m actually not eating sweet potatoes right now, but for some reason, I am still craving them and hoarding sweet potato recipes like it’s the end of the internet. It’s only a little heartbreaking to look at those gorgeous photos. Some day..)

Lots of great options here- fries, chips, soup, stuffed potatoes, and BROWNIES. Get to pinning!

Row 1: Thai Sweet Potato Stacks, Sweet Potato Almond Butter Muffins, Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Cherry Salsa

Row 2: Sweet Potato Breakfast Biscuits, Brown Butter Sweet Potato Doughnuts, Paleo Sweet Potato Brownies, Garlic Butter Sweet Potato Fries with Creamy Feta Dip

Row 3: Roasted Grape, Goat Cheese and Honey-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Potato and Pineapple Salad, Black Bean, Sweet Potato and Red Quinoa Soup, Sweet Potato Pulled Pork Sliders

Row 4: Homemade BBQ Sweet Potato Chips, Baked Sweet Potato Falafel, Sweet Potato Coconut Curry Soup, Loaded Black Bean Sweet Potato Boats

16 Summer Chicken Recipes

Natalie — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 06:30:17 +0000

Good day, darlings!

I have been noticing some trends on my Pinterest recipe boards and I thought I might take some time to share my latest favorites with you. I’ve been all about collecting summery chicken recipes, so here are 16 tasty meals to get that protein in this summer. There’s something for everyone- kabobs, burgers, wraps, salads, crock pot meals and a garbage-free CHIK FIL A KNOCK OFF RECIPE. So yeah, something for everyone.

Cluck, cluck, cluck.

Row 1: Chipotle Chicken Kabobs with Avocado Cream Sauce, Caribbean Chicken, Cheddar Jalepeno Chicken Burgers with Guacamole, Crockpot Tex Mex Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Row 2: Grilled Chicken Salad with Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette, Barbecued Chicken, Thai Grilled Chicken Breasts, Raspberry Chicken Thighs

Row 3: Greek Chicken Burgers, Cashew Chicken Mango Salad, Garbage-Free Chik Fil A Nuggets, Slow Cooker Jerk Chicken

Row 4: Pineapple Chicken Kabobs, Pineapple Grilled Chicken, Paleo Jalepeno Chicken Burgers, Tropical Quinoa Lettuce Wraps

16 Inspiring Spring Salads

Natalie — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:44:10 +0000

Are you guys feeling neglected? I know I’ve been doing a lot of work over on Modern Parents Messy Kids lately- it just ended up that a bunch of my posts were happening around the same time of the month. I’m sharing the links for all the salad recipes pictured above over there today, so if you’re in need of some salad inspiration- click on over.

If you’re wondering what’s new with me, I am waist-deep in preparation to begin the GAPS Intro Diet to begin healing my stomach. I have been stockpiling meat, chopping and freezing veggies and making broth like nobody’s business. I am just waiting on a few more things (mainly beef tallow from a local farmer) and then I’ll be ready to begin. I plan on sharing my journey, tips and any recipes I find useful along the way. I think it will be essential for my healing process to document things here, and maybe it will be helpful to some of you as well.

Any encouragement you have to share about healing through diet is welcomed! I will surely be drawing strength from the Lord to get through the introduction stages- it will be nothing short of a miracle if I make it through without sabotaging myself (i.e. eating handfuls of chocolate chips during nap time). Thanks for sticking with me while I work through this health issue- it means a lot to know that I am not alone!

Oh, and also- check out my two newest sponsors on the right sidebar- Jessica Lynn Writes (she has a yummy new baby, go see!) and All Natural Me.

Lamb Meatballs (gluten-free, grain-free, paleo) with Yogurt Dip and Spiced Vegetables

Natalie — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:57:00 +0000

This new style of eating has been an adjustment. It’s hard to wrap my head around new rules for meal-planning and eating. So much of my day is spent thinking about food, and planning out when and what we’re going to eat and making grocery lists. I know it’s not permanent (I mean, I hope! Ack!) and I know it’s going to help to heal my stomach, but it is mentally draining.

This meal is one of my first attempts at branching out from the plain-meat-and-veg dinner. I am semi-obsessed with meatballs lately, so when I saw ground lamb at Publix I had to grab it. It was exxxxpensive, but it made delicious meatballs.

When I was combining the meatball mixture, I wasn’t sure they would come together without some kind of binder. I swore by panko or soaked bread in my old meatball recipes and that obviously wasn’t happening, so I grabbed some coconut flour- my new BFF. It’s basically magic, that stuff. It soaked up the extra moisture right away.

To go along with the lamb, I made a quick yogurt dip in the food processor with mint and feta cheese. I hadn’t ever had the mint/feta combo, but it is surprisingly delicious. A little goes a long way for me (as usual when it comes to dips and sauces), but I’m a fan.

I also roasted up some cauliflower and carrots in spices that compliment the lamb- oregano, garlic, parsley.. as well as some cinnamon, cloves, allspice and a touch of cumin. You don’t have to add the “sweeter” spices, but I like the way they taste when paired with the lamb.

I had my meatballs and veggies over a salad; hubs made pita sandwiches. The kids gobbled up the veggies in no time. I feel like I finally had a win in the kitchen after weeks of scraping by.. not really knowing what to eat or serve my family. Huge sigh of relief!

Lamb Meatballs (gluten-free, grain-free, paleo) with Yogurt Dip and Spiced Vegetables

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

50 mins

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Main Dish, Appetizer

Serves: 8

Ingredients

½ onion, peeled
handful of parsley (maybe ¼-1/3 cup packed?)
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 pound ground lamb
1 egg
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 tablespoon oregano
½ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon cloves cloves
salt and pepper to taste
Feta Yogurt Dip (below), Spiced Vegetables (below), pita bread, salad greens, etc for serving

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine onion, parsley and garlic. Process until finely diced.
In a large mixing bowl, combine onion mixture, lamb, egg, coconut flour and spices until well combined. Form into meatballs and line up on a foil or parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake the meatballs at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve with feta yogurt dip, spiced vegetables, pita bread, or whatever you like. (If you’d like the meatballs to be even more brown, turn on the broiler for 5 minutes and them pull them out).

Feta Yogurt Dip

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

10 mins

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Condiment

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

4 ounces feta cheese
⅓ cup yogurt, plus extra if you like a thinner dip
2 sprigs fresh mint
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice

Instructions

In a food processor, combine feta, yogurt, mint and vinegar/lemon juice. Process until smooth. If the dip isn’t smooth enough for you, add some more yogurt until you reach your desired consistency. Serve with the lamb meatballs.

Spice Roasted Cauliflower and Carrots

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

55 mins

These can bake in the oven at the same time as the lamb meatballs.

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Side Dishes

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets
5-6 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried parsley or a few sprigs freshly chopped parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder or 2 fresh garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon, optional
¼ teaspoon cloves, optional
¼ teaspoon allspice, optional
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, combine the vegetables, olive oil and spices. Spread on a foil or parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 30-45 minutes until beginning to brown. Serve warm.

End of Summer Chopped Salad with Citrus Honey Viniagrette

Natalie — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 11:45:00 +0000

As I declared and made official in my last post, summer is not over.

It’s still August (I think?). And it’s still warm. And Labor Day is still a few days out.

Since I know you don’t mind, I will carry on with my summer-related nonsense. Sorry I didn’t get my act together for you guys about three months ago, but you can just pin this little number on your “Summer 2013” board and get pumped for next June.

I usually don’t eat salad with dressing (I know, I know, it’s weird), but when I make salads for dinner, I feel like I should provide Nick with a dressing option that actually complements the salad (he will typically just balsamic-vinegar-and-oil anything in a bowl). And then I just do a teeny, tiny drizzle on mine just to test it out.

The last time my mom was in town, she took me on an amazing throw-anything-in-the-cart-because-I-am-the-best-mom-ever Whole Foods shopping trip (love you, Mama!). While we were there, she recommended the O Citrus Champagne Vinegar that I used for the dressing. It’s light, fresh and not too sharp- you can taste it, but it doesn’t interfere with the other flavors of the salad.

What can I say? My mom and I are a couple of geniuses.

Before I go, have we talked about getting kids to eat salad?

It is one of my great quests as a parent to have my children enjoy salads. I was completely against salads as a child. My cousin used to eat lettuce straight from the bag and I thought she was IN-SANE. (Turns out she was the smart one and the healthy one- can’t imagine why.)

Sometimes the whole idea seems futile, but I hope they’ll appreciate the effort someday.

I try to make salads as meals pretty frequently, so when I fix a toddler plate, I just use a smaller bed of lettuce and more of the toppings. Then, gradually, as the kids grow and get used to it, they will get more greens. I also try to sneak spinach or kale into everything- eggs, smoothies, wraps/sandwiches, desserts- I think that helps with flavor recognition (which is totally a real thing, I’m sure).

This particular salad was a toddler win for us- you really can’t go wrong if you’ve got fruit and bacon in the mix. If you want your kids to eat salad, just try adding a leaf or two of spinach to their plate each time. Eventually, they will wonder what it is and put it in their mouth.

End of Summer Chopped Salad with Citrus Honey Viniagrette

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

20 mins

Author: Oven Love

Recipe type: Salad

Serves: 2

Ingredients

4 cups fresh spinach
10-12 cherry tomatoes, halved
½ medium cucumber, sliced or diced
1 ear grilled corn, kernels removed
5 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
½ avocado, diced
8-10 cherries, pitted and halved
⅓ cup feta cheese
2 tablespoons citrus champagne vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Divide spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, corn, bacon, avocado, cherries and feta cheese between two bowls.
Whisk vinegar, honey and olive oil in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over salads and enjoy!

Sesame Quinoa with Chicken and Snap Peas

Natalie — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 19:24:00 +0000

I’m not sure what took me so long, but I am on board with this quinoa business.

I’m pretty late to the party, I know.

You might have seen the salmon/spinach/feta/quinoa concoction on MPMK last week?

Since I’m on this quinoa kick, I pulled up Jessica’s recipe (which I’ve had pinned for aaaaages) and had to make it happen.

(My sesame kick is a close second to my quinoa kick.)

The recipe was genius to start- all I did was add some snap peas, a teensy bit more soy sauce and another handful of sesame seeds and I was good. to. go.

I am not ashamed to say I scarfed this down in under five minutes.

Mostly because there was a little baby trying to pull it directly away from me and onto the floor, but also because it tasted amazing. Or as Elliott would say- “Mama, it’s dewishus!”

Sesame Quinoa with Chicken and Snap Peas

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

40 mins

adapted from How Sweet It Is

Author: Oven Love

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ tablespoon toasted sesame oil
½ tablespoon olive oil
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 cup sugar snap peas, rinsed and rough chopped
6 green onions, sliced
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, plus more for serving
3 tablespoons olive oil, for dressing
2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, for dressing
1 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce, for dressing (gluten-free if necessary)

Instructions

Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add ½ tablespoon of sesame and olive oil. Add in garlic and quinoa and stir to coat, then toast for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in chicken stock and increase heat to high, bringing the quinoa to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover, cooking for 15 minutes, or until water is absorbed and quinoa can be fluffed with a fork. Whisk together dressing ingredients and set aside.
Add in chicken, snap peas, green onions and dressing, tossing well to coat. Add in sesame seeds and toss once more. Top with more sesame seeds and serve.

Salmon Quinoa Salad

Natalie — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:25:00 +0000

Hop on over to MPMK today- I’m sharing this simple salmon quinoa salad. Yum!

Caprese Salad Skewers

Natalie — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 19:08:00 +0000

You guys.

I am having a major food-related crisis!

If you have been reading the ol’ blog for a while, you probably know these things about me:

A) I enjoy healthy foods and attempt to live a healthy lifestyle.

B) I enjoy baking and creating desserts that are often FULL. OF. SUGAR.

I have discovered in the last day or two that I have convinced myself that I eat healthily, but I actually consume a lot of sugar in my daily diet. I don’t eat a lot of processed food (I make most of our treats from scratch), but that alone doesn’t mean I’m a picture of health. I have made a lot of changes in the way we eat over the past few years, but I haven’t been able to let go of sugar.

OF COURSE, sugar is bad for you. I am on-board with this, aren’t we all? We know the terrible stuff that happens when you eat tons of sugar. I thought since I don’t drink soda and don’t eat Twinkies that I was in the clear, but in fact, I’m probably a sugar-crazy-zombie, too.

So, I haven’t officially quit sugar (ahhh!!) but I am thinking about it and doing my research, and trying to get my head around the idea of not baking cakes whenever I want. The past day or two, I’ve been making the conscious effort to avoid processed sugar and I do feel a difference. My self-control needs some work, though- maybe this is God’s way of working on me in that area.

You guys, I just love treats. I’m going to have to find a way to work treats into this whole low-sugar idea, because I think we’re meant to enjoy sweet things.. at least sometimes. Why else would God have given us such amazing treats like fruit and honey? I still have to get my head around it, so while I do, let’s focus on something sugarless, but still sweet in their own way..

Caprese salad skewers.

Easy, easy, easy. And healthy, too. (I think, but what do I know?)

These little guys are make-ahead, party-ready, easy-to-snack-on-while-having-a-long-conversation kind of food. Just put the stuff on a stick. It’s not rocket science. People love things at least 2-3 times more when it comes on a stick, trust me.

Anyone out there have any wisdom about the sugar thing? I am planning on reading Nourishing Traditions this weekend- I’ll be sure to report back. If I go forward with this nonsense, will you guys still read the blog? You won’t leave me if I stop making baking giant cakes, will you?

I hope you’ll stay- you’re my faves.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Prep time

30 mins

Total time

30 mins

Ingredients

2 pints cherry tomatoes, washed
1 lb fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into cubes
1 bunch fresh basil (I just pulled out a large stalk from the garden, you can use full leaves or tear them into smaller pieces depending on how much basil you have)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

To assemble the skewers, place the tomatoes, cheese and basil alternately on the skewer (tomato, cheese, basil, tomato, cheese, basil, tomato). Repeat until you are out of ingredients. Lay skewers in a shallow baking dish.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, whish the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour over the skewers to coat. Serve immediately or let the skewers marinate in the refrigerator for up to 2 days (haven’t tested this, but I imagine they will stay in tact for a day or two). Serve cold.

Joy’s BLT Corn Salad Wraps

Natalie — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Here are some things I’d like to say about this heat wave.

Something is not right when your properly-working-AC is chugging along 24/7 just to keep your house under 82 degrees.
RIP to four of our chickens. Four! 108 degrees is brutal. And sorry to whatever poor garbage man has to pick up our trash tomorrow.. ugh.
Yesterday was the first time I swam in a lukewarm pool. And it was before 10AM. And it was refreshing.

It is madness!

Thank goodness for the brilliant JTB for coming up with this gem of an idea. It’s actually very similar to this Corn, Crab and Tomato Salad I made last summer, but is has bacon. Which in my book is light years ahead of crab on the deliciousness scale (which is definitely a real thing). After an hour in our outdoor bath (I can hardly call that thing a pool. I mean really), this was the most refreshing plate imaginable.

I am usually not a big fan of lettuce cups (so messy and usually filled with disappointing ground meat of some kind), but it was the perfect way to serve this salad. There was something great in each bite- sweet corn, creamy avocado, savory bacon- all wrapped up in the cool, crisp crunch of a lettuce leaf. I would eat this anytime, but it would be particularly wonderful to serve in a picnic setting or after some kind of hot, summer activity.

If this heat wave continues, I am stocking up on bacon, lettuce, tomato and corn and not coming out of the house until it’s below 90 degrees.

(So I guess I’ll see you in September!)

Joy’s BLT Corn Salad Wraps

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

45 mins

Find the original recipe at http://joythebaker.com/2012/06/blt-corn-salad-wraps/

Author: Joy the Baker

Recipe type: Appetizer, Main

Ingredients

3 ears of corn, shucked (she charred hers, I did not)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
½ cup chopped green onions (I used white onion here)
1 avocado, diced
3 sliced crisp cooked bacon, diced
juice of 1 lime
about 1 tablespoon olive oil (I used roasted garlic grapeseed oil- YUM)
salt and pepper to taste
a good sprinkling of chili powder and smokey paprika
butter lettuce or iceberg lettuce leaves
hot sauce and sour cream for topping

Instructions

Shuck corn on the cob of all their husks and strings. Over a gas burner, or on the flame grill, char raw corn. Rotate corn until cob is charred on all sides. Allow corn to cool before slicing corn kernels from the cob. This invariably creates corn shrapnel all over the kitchen counter.
Add corn kernels to a medium bowl. Top with sliced cherry tomatoes, green onion, diced avocado, and diced bacon. Squeeze in lime juice. Top with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and slices. Stir to combine. Taste and re-season accordingly.
Rinse and clean individual lettuce leaves. Serve alongside a bowl of corn salad to serve. To enjoy, scoop corn salad into lettuce leaves, top with hot sauce, sour cream, fold up like a taco and eat em up!