Red Leaf Salad with Blackberries and Blue Cheese

Sometimes the simplest salads are the best salads.

There is a whole new array of salads out there that feature fruit.  Fruit can lend a new texture and a little sweetness to a salad.  Using seasonal fruit allows you to change up your salad no matter the season.  The other bonus with fruit is that is can be added to your salad whole, raw, chopped, grilled, or pureed!

MGG never really liked fruit in his salad.  He typically sticks to the garden variety vegetables.  Me? I started out by putting raisins on my garden salad.  A little sweetness on top.  I loved it!  Now I've expanded to all kinds of fruits, and so has he.  The best part is he actually likes them!  Being the rabbit he is (he loves salads) it wasn't too hard of a sell to start getting him used to the fruity sweet taste.  A few cranberries here, a pear here, and before you know it he's craving them.

I particularly like to balance the sweetness or tartness of the fruit with a nice cheese.  And I really enjoy a regular ole vinaigrette rather than a fruit based one.  So this salad is just that.  Tart plump blackberries served on a bed of red leaf lettuce.  It is dressed with a balsamic homemade dressing and topped with some crumbled blue cheese to give it that edge.  YUMMY!

This is the perfect side salad, as it goes well with chicken and beef dishes.  You could also turn this into a wonderful main dish salad by adding some caramelized red onions and some sliced steak.  Hint Hint, this would be a wonderful Thanksgiving salad, simple to make and full of flavor!

So try this wonderfully "simple" salad.  The flavors are outstanding!

Red Leaf Salad with Blackberries and Blue Cheese

Serves 4-6

3 T extra virgin olive oil

2 T balsamic vinegar

Salt & pepper

6 c torn red leaf lettuce

½ lb blue cheese, crumbled

1 c fresh blackberries

In a small bowl whisk together the oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.

Place lettuce in a bowl.  Add the dressing and toss to coat evenly.  Add crumbled blue cheese.  Divide among serving plates, or platter and top with blackberries.  Serve.

Polenta Cakes with Vegetables

Need a quick healthy meal?

How about polenta?  There are sometimes when you can take a little help from processed foods to assist you with getting a healthy, fast meal on the table.  Polenta is one of those items.  Sure you can make polenta from scratch and it tastes great.  But...when time is of the essence pre-made polenta is just fine to use.  You've seen them in the grocery store...in tubes? 

I really love polenta for it's versatility.  It is a great foil for surrounding flavors and can be used in many different ways. 

What is polenta?
Polenta is yellow or white cornmeal that is cooked with a liquid to make a paste-like substance.  After is it cooked it can then be baked, fried, or grilled.  Typically associated with Italian cuisine it can be used in place of pasta or rice and topped with meat, a nice sauce, or vegetables as I have done today.  As this is a versatile item you can also use polenta with a variety of regional dishes such as French with mushrooms and a sauce, or Mexican using black beans and tomatoes.  Let your imagination run wild with the toppings and discover a new dish. 

The dish I made today can be considered a meatless or vegetarian dish.  Use it as a main dish for dinner or lunch.  The addition of the beans provide the protein.  If you want to make this as a side dish, remove the beans and serve alongside a nice grilled chicken or serve with beef short ribs.

I also used wine in this dish as added flavor.  Just a tad.  But if you don't want wine use either chicken broth or vegetable broth as the liquid.  Both work great.  I've also added basil as the main herb in the dish which lends it a very Italian flavor.  For something more mild, change up the herb to thyme, or just use the parsley.

This is a great dish to make in under 30 minutes.  It's very filling and provides you with an array of vitamins along with protein and still keeps the calories down.  A wonderful healthy dish!  Enjoy!

Polenta Cakes with Vegetables
4 Servings

1 tube (1 lb) polenta, cut into 12 slices
4 T olive oil,
1 large zucchini, halved and chopped
2 shallots, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 T white wine
salt & pepper to taste
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3/4 c white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 t dried basil
1 T torn fresh parsley
4 T mozzarella cheese, shredded

In a large nonstick skillet, cook polenta in 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat for 7 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, in another large skillet, saute zucchini in remaining oil until tender. Add shallots and garlic and cook for another minute. Add the wine, salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil and cook until liquid is almost evaporated.

Stir in the tomatoes, beans and basil.  Cook until heated through, about another 3-4 minutes.  Remove from heat and sprinkle with parsley.  Place 3 polenta cakes on each plate and top with vegetable mixture.  Sprinkle each serving with 1 tablespoon of cheese.

Kitchen Tips and Guides

Thanksgiving is literally around the corner.

Are you starting to plan your menu yet?  I've been thinking about it.  Tossing around some new side dishes to thrown in with my standard ones.

Well, I found some great cooking guides on MyRecipes.com that I think every kitchen should have! It makes life easier.   I hope that you find these useful, especially with all the holiday cooking coming up.

First up is a guide to internal cooking temperatures for all types of meat, seafood, eggs, and even leftovers.  You name it, it's there.  A great resource.

Next is a Holiday Turkey Timeline.  This has great tips from deciding how big a turkey to buy, how to thaw a frozen turkey, different methods of cooking, to testing that it's done.  It even has tips on how to store leftovers.  All we need now are some recipes for the leftovers!!

Lastly is one of my favorites, a cooking conversion chart.  I ALWAYS need to know how many tablespoons are in a 1/4 cup and can NEVER remember!  This guide has it all, and it's cute too!

Happy planning!