Cucumber, Tomato, & Dill Salad

I love cold summer salads, don't you?


So the other day I told you that MGG and I went to the Hollywood Bowl.  We had a fantastic time!  One of our favorites things to do there was to take a picnic and enjoy our food before the performance.


If you missed my post about the bowl and our menu you can read it here:  Hollywood Bowl & Jalapeno Mustard Dipping Sauce

One of the items was a cold salad.  It was the perfect accompaniment to our sandwiches and chicken.  And when MGG is "Mmmnnning" while eating it, I know it's a winner!

This is a very easy salad to throw together.  It only takes a few ingredients and is done in minutes.

So let's make my Cucumber, Tomato, & Dill Salad!

Peel and seed your cucumber.  Chop into cubes.  Seed your tomato.  You don't want the extra juice.  Then go ahead and chop or dice your tomato.  Place both items in a medium bowl.

Next add your yogurt, garlic, dill, and a pinch of salt.

Mix it altogether.  At this point you can chill it and serve it later, or serve immediately.  Be aware that the longer it sits, the yogurt will start to turn a little runny from all the juices going on.  Just drain that off if you like.  It doesn't ruin the flavors of the salad.

Simple and soooo YUMMY!

  

Cucumber, Tomato, & Dill Salad

Adapted from Pillsbury

3 large Roma (plum) tomatoes, seeded, diced (1 1/2 cups)

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and cubed (1 cup)
¼ cup plain yogurt
1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
½ teaspoon dried dill weed
Pinch of salt

Directions:

Seed and dice tomatoes.  Peel and cube cucumber.  Place tomatoes and cucumbers in a medium bowl.

Add yogurt, garlic, dill weed, and salt.  Mix all ingredients until evenly coated.

Chill or serve immediately.

Hollywood Bowl & Jalapeno Mustard Dipping Sauce

I love the summertime in LA. 

One of the great pleasures is being able to eat alfresco, listening to some great music.  One place to do that is at the Hollywood Bowl.

I LOVE the Hollywood Bowl.  There is nothing better than sitting under the stars in the cool breeze listening to the fantastic orchestra...and eating all the scrumptious food of course!

MGG and I try to go to the Bowl every season.  This year, not so much.  I'm not sure why, just things got in the way.  So when I saw that they were having a concert  playing music from famous movies...well I just snapped up those tickets and off we went!

The concert was really a treat...but we also got another treat from the weather that day!  First there were clouds, and then the crowd was all yelling..."LOOK!  A DOUBLE RAINBOW!".

How beautiful.

Then came the show...and a lightening show off in the distance as well!  What a site...and quite a night.

The great 'HOLLYWOOD' sign...

Remember this movie?

It's amazing how the orchestra plays the music exactly in time to the movie.

A sea of green...

So on to the food!  I decided to take a picnic. 

The menu:

Sandwich Sliders
Fried Chicken Tenders (I used this recipe cutting the chicken in to tenders which are easier to pick up)
Jalapeno Mustard Dipping Sauce (recipe below)
Cucumber, Tomato, and Dill Salad (click to go to the recipe)
Peach Raspberry Crisp (click to go to the recipe)

For the Sandwich Sliders I took dinner rolls to use as my base.  We had two different sliders:   

Turkey, Salami, and Provolone sliders

Ham & Swiss sliders.

See how cute.  They are wrapped in parchment paper and secured with a pretty toothpick to keep them together when traveling.

We also had some great fried chicken tenders. (You can use my Buttermilk Fried Chicken Breasts as your guide.)   So good!  But what took these over the top is the Jalapeno Mustard Dipping Sauce.  WOW!  This was really good.  I found the recipe in a Southern Living magazine and altered it just a bit.  You should really try this sauce.  It has such ZIP!  It's mustardy and spicy at the same time..(the secret is Jalapeno Jelly) ...a must try.  Great with chicken strips, wings, as a spread on a sandwich...endless possibilities!

Try it, you'll like it....and let me know what you think of this sauce.  Enjoy!

Jalapeno Mustard Dipping Sauce

Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients

3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Jalapeno Pepper Jelly
1/4 cup Dijon mustard

Preparation

Stir together all ingredients until blended.  May be served right away or chilled.

adapted from Southern Living Jalapeno Mustard Dipping Sauce

Fast & Fresh: Blackberry, Blue Cheese, and Spinach Salad

With all the fresh produce of summer it's hard not to take advantage of them. 

This year has been a "Berry" year for me.  I've made more dishes with berries than ever before, and I absolutely love them!

During these hot end of summer days a fresh salad always comes to mind.  I like salads, but I seem to crave them more in the summer months.  Cool, light, crisp, refreshing, and unique flavors to add some zip to a plain old salad.

Today's salad is part of my Fast & Fresh series. 

"Fast & Fresh"

• Simple ingredients
• Fresh and healthy
• Easy prep
• Delishhhh taste!

This salad is perfect for lunch or as a side salad with dinner.  Of course I had to use "berries" in it!  Why wouldn't I?

So I created a Blackberry, Blue Cheese, and Spinach Salad.  YUM!  The flavors of this salad are sweet and tangy.  It has just the right amount of blue cheese and blackberries, and is topped off with a lemon vinaigrette.  All on top of a bed of fresh spinach leaves.  Sounds good huh?

First you make the dressing.  I use a cute little canning jar for this so I can just shake it up and store any left overs in it for a couple of days in the refrigerator.  So to a jar or bowl add your lemon juice, dried thyme, Dijon mustard, salt & pepper, and your olive oil.  If you are making this in a bowl whisk in your olive oil as your slowly drizzle it in to get the dressing to emulsify.  Easy as that!

Next, arrange your spinach on your plates, top with blackberries and drizzle on some salad dressing and toss to coat well.  Then add your blue cheese crumbles.  Your done!  So fast, easy, and oh soooo tasty!

 

So I hope you enjoy this recipe.  It only takes minutes to make but the results are delishhhh!

Blackberry, Blue Cheese, and Spinach Salad

serves 4

Ingredients
 
1 ½ T fresh lemon juice
1 t dried thyme
1/2 t Dijon mustard
1/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 c fresh spinach
1 c blackberries
2 ounces mild blue cheese, crumbled

Directions

In a small bowl or a jar add olive oil, lemon juice, thyme mustard, salt, and pepper.  Whisk together or shake up to mix together.

Divide among 4 salad plates the spinach and berries.  Gently toss with dressing to coat thoroughly.  Crumble blue cheese on each salad. Enjoy!

adapted from a Sunset recipe