Southern Slaw

Hi there!  It's been a few days...
Super busy, and it's been keeping me from cooking...and posting fabulous recipes!

We did have some time to sneak in a nice grilled dinner the other day though.  Love the summer time grills, don't you?  Nothing better than sitting outside with family and friends and eating great food.

One thing I've noticed this year is that I've been making a lot of simple side dishes.  Light ones too!  Due to the heat and the humidity (Where are we?  Hawaii?)  around LA this year (which is totally unusual) I find that making a variety of quick and light side dishes goes perfect with our summer meals.  We don't want heavy food when you are drowning in sticky weather.

So digging through all my mom's recipes again and came across this excellent dish simply called Southern Slaw.  Nothing else...I don't even know where she got it from.  Must be a family secret or something!  I remember mom making cole slaw often when I was little.  She loved cole slaw.  So looking at the ingredients this looked pretty straight forward and I knew I had to make it to go with our Tex-Mex flavored dinner we were having.

It was easy to put together, and you make your own dressing.  I like that best because you can control the sugar and salt.  I think that the shredded veggies are easily adaptable as well.  You could even use a bag of broccoli slaw and still come out perfect.  I do say this is an excellent slaw!  Slightly sweet and crunchy.  Just perfect as a side dish.

 
Yeah! to Southern Slaw....it doesn't disappoint.  

Hope you enjoy it!

Southern Slaw

serves: 12
 
Dressing:
1/4 c sugar
1 c lite mayonnaise
2 T Dijon mustard
4 T apple cider vinegar
3 T lemon juice
salt & pepper, to taste
Slaw:
2 medium yellow bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 medium red bell peppers, thinly sliced
4 c shredded cabbage
2 c shredded carrots
5 radishes, thinly sliced
1 c diced red onion

In a medium bowl whisk together all the dressing ingredients until well mixed.  Set aside.

In a large bowl add all slaw ingredients tossing to combine.  Add dressing over the slaw and toss to contribute dressing evenly.  Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour to combine flavors.  Serve.

Pomegranate Grilled Turkey Tenderloin Salad

Yum

We're loving the sunshine!

Too hot to cook inside, and a nice light meal is in order.

Let's fire up the grill and throw on something you don't typically see...turkey tenderloins!  That's right, turkey, it's not just for Thanksgiving!  Last summer I made a wonder Thanksgiving-esque dish.  The Grilled Turkey with Balsamic BBQ sauce and Tomato Dressing was just fabulous, you should absolutely try making this dish.  Look how pretty this one is...




So I thought that I'd bring back turkey again this summer, grilled and the topper to a great farmer's market salad!  This turkey is special.  It's marinaded in a wonderful pomegranate sauce.  The flavors are a little tart but also have depth from the soy and ginger.  The perfect combination to flavor up this turkey.  

To keep this meal light we made a fresh salad using farmer's market ingredients and topped it with the grilled turkey for a nice entree.  Add a little bread and some iced tea and you are set!  Summer sunshine for dinner! 

So, fire up your grill and get yourself some turkey for a change.  It's oh soooo good!

Enjoy!

Pomegranate Grilled Turkey Tenderloin Salad

serves 4

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup pomegranate juice
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 1/2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce 
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 turkey tenderloins
1 head Green leaf lettuce
½ c shredded carrots
1 cucumber peeled and sliced
2 tomatoes seeded and chopped
1 yellow bell pepper seeded and chopped
1/3 mild feta cheese crumbled
Oil and Vinegar vinaigrette

Combine first 8 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add turkey and seal and marinate in refrigerator 2 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Heat grill to medium high heat. Remove turkey from the marinade and place on the grill. Discard remaining marinade. Cook 6-7 minutes per side or until meat has reached 160 degrees.

Meanwhile tear lettuce and place on a platter. Add carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, and bell pepper to the platter. Sprinkle with feta cheese. Drizzle with vinaigrette to taste.
 
Remove meat from grill to a cutting board and allow to rest 5 minutes. Slice meat into long strips at an angle. Place slice on top of the salad and serve.

Tropical Crescent Ring

During the summer I love to sit outside in the morning on the weekends and enjoy a nice cup of hot tea and something delicious for breakfast.  A great way to start the day off, in the quiet...before the world gets busy and hectic.  

So this morning that's exactly what MGG and I did.  Spend a few quite moments talking and eating breakfast outside...before the day gets started..and around here, before the scorching heat is upon us.  It's been humid, oh sooo humid, and around 100 degrees all week.  This weekend promises the same.

I do have a confession to make though, before telling you about this dish.  I tend to read a lot of recipes, blogs, cookbooks etc...Then I go out an buy ingredients to make that special something, and a week goes by and I read some more, and I forget what that special something was!  So then I have some great ingredients lying around and don't know what I intended them for...C'est la vie!  It's a bad habit of mine.  

The reason I'm telling you this it this ties to my creation of this mornings breakfast.  I wanted to make something like a pastry.  I knew, looking around I found some dried pineapple and some macadamia nuts but to be honest I don't remember what they were for...possibly oatmeal granola bars?  Anyway they gave me the idea to make a this Tropical Crescent Ring.  Now to find some shredded coconut, which I located in the freezer, and some type of dough (not wanting to make this from scratch today) so I found a can of Crescent Rolls in the frig.  Voila, I had my inspiration.  (Think I'm picking up the French language from a book I'm reading right now...but I digress)

This is a wonderful pastry to make.  Easy to put together, and similar to cinnamon rolls.  It takes about 35-40 min from start to finish, and the smell when it's baking...heaven!  Nothing too complicate here but oh so tasty!  It's really a semi-homemade version you can whip up easily and everyone will enjoy.

Kitchen Tip:  when working with this crescent dough, try to work quickly so the dough doesn't heat up.  If it does it makes the dough too pliable and it will be hard to roll and keep roll nice and intact.  (Not that I know this from experience of anything!)

So make this wonderful breakfast for you and your family...enjoy the moment, and the day ahead!

Tropical Crescent Ring
serves 4-6
time: 40 min

1 8 oz can crescent dinner rolls 
2 T butter softened or melted
2 T brown sugar 
1/4 c chopped dried pineapple
2 T sweetened shredded coconut
1/3 c chopped macadamia nuts

Glaze:
1/3 c powdered sugar
2 t milk
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place a piece of parchment paper on a large cookie sheet.  Unroll dough on the parchment paper in a rectangle and press all seams together.  

In a bowl, mix butter, brown sugar, pineapple, and coconut. Spread mixture over dough to within 1/2 inch from the edges.  Sprinkle nuts over the top. 

Starting with long side of rectangle, roll up the pastry into a long roll.  Pinch the the seam into the dough to seal when you've finished rolling.  Using a knife, cut the dough into 12 equal slices. Arrange the slices on the parchment paper almost cut side up, overlapping the pieces slightly so they touch, in a circle.  

Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from pan to a cooling rack and cool completely.  If desired, make a glaze by mixing the powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl, making sure you add enough milk for a thin drizzle.  Drizzle over crescent ring and serve.