Remember the roasted cauliflower recipe that I blogged about a few weeks ago? Well, there was no way I was going to eat that whole cauliflower by myself. Therefore I needed to figure out what to do with it.

So I went on Pinterest and found a Cauliflower Potato Salad – without the Potatos!! I thought to myself – PERFECT.

Here’s the recipe: (adapted from www.nelliebellie.com)

Ingredients:

1 roasted cauliflower or steamed cauliflower

2 hard boiled eggs, grated

1/4 cup of mayonnaise

3 ribs of celery, diced

Fresh parsley or dill (fresh herbs will make a huge difference)

Directions:

1. Roast or steam the cauliflower. Click here for the Roasted Cauliflower recipe)

2. Grate the cauliflower till you have 2 cups

3. Combine the grated cauliflower, grated hard boiled eggs and celery together with the mayo.

4. Add salt and pepper and fresh herbs – to your taste.

FINAL

This is a fantastic alternative to potato salad.

It’s also perfect for someone like me who is trying to cut down on carbs.

T’is the season to embrace salads, don’t you think?

 

I had some company over on Friday night for dinner and I have to admit – the meal was divine. I served one main course and three salads plus dessert. Right now, I feel like I need to share one particular salad recipe with you STAT.

This Thai Crunch Brussels Sprout recipe was worth all the chopping and all the ingredients. TRUST ME. LOL

Thai Crunch Brussel Sprout Salad (taken from a fantastic blog that I subscribe to..Sweet Eats)

Happy Cooking.

 

In the last 6 weeks, I have been fortunate enough to attend two media tours to visit a variety of farms. One tour was organized by Farm Food Care and the other tour was organized by Farmers Feed Cities. Both tours were amazing and have been thinking about visiting more farmers and eating local. Therefore, on my way back from Collingwood, I stopped by Cookstown Greens to see their farm. Caroline and Simon Ffrench were all too happy to give us a tour and teach us about their unbelievable operation. Just take a look at these photos. These images say a lot!!

On our way out, we received a beautiful bag of goodies. These vegetables were truly appreciated as I’m still on a low carb diet and it meant that I would have a beautiful lunch today!!

Cookstown Greens Seedling Salad ( may contain: daikon and burgundy radish, popcorn pea, chickpea, chard, red cabbage seedlings and edible flower petals). I also chopped the beautiful cucumber and the purple green pepper into the salad. Trust me – this was not your average summer.

I did not need to add toasted nuts or feta cheese. My salad was going to taste amazing without any additional ingredients. The only thing I needed was a dressing. (which I make without using a formal recipe. Sorry)

Salad Dressing Ingredients:  Lemon Balm (from Cookstown Greens), olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a bit of honey, a bit of grainy mustard and then I whizzed up all the ingredients in the Cuisinart.

End Result: A stunning, TASTY salad.

For more info about Cookstown Greens, please visit their website.

To find their products in retail stores click here and to find their farmer market locations please click here.

Ps I think  Ontario Table  would be proud of me for having a LOCAL lunch. You too can have a LOCAL lunch. (hint hint) For more info about her quest for everyone to eat local, please check out her website here.

 

 

After eating my way thru New York City  – it was time for me to, um, eat healthier. This means – cut down on eating out and make more salads at home!!

Here’s two of my favorite corn salads.

(original recipe posted on The Pioneer Woman – sadly I cant find the exact link – sorry )

4 ears of corn, cooked

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

2 large avocados (I used only 1)

1 jalapeno, seeded and finally diced (I only used a little)

Dressing:

juice of 1 lime

plenty of cilantro

salt

1 tbsp of vinegar

1 tsp of sugar

Preparation: Boil water in a saucepan. Then add corn. Boil till tender. Rinse. Drain. Then slice off corn from the cobb.

Dice avocado, red onion and jalapeno.

Dressing: Using a food processor, combine the cilantro, vinegar, lime juice, salt and sugar.

Assembly: Add corn to other ingredients. Pour dressing over the corn mixture. Toss. Cover and refrigerate.

END RESULT:

Barley and Corn Salad with Basil Chive Dressing

(original recipe posted on epiciurious)

2 cups water

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup barley

2 cups corn

1/3  cup oil

1/3 cup  fresh basil

3 tablespoons chives

1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp black pepper

Preparation:

Bring a large saucepan to boil – then place the corn in the boiling water till tender. Rinse. Drain. Then cut off kernels from the cobb.

Next, bring 2 cups of water with 1/4 tsp of salt to boil in another large saucepan. Stir in barley, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until barley is tender. About 10-15 minutes

For the Dressing: Pulse in a cusinart – oil, basil, chives, vinegar, sugar and pepper,  and the remaining 1/2 tsp of salt

Assembly: Slice corn of off the ears – transfer to a bowl. Add the barley. Add the dressing. Toss to combine.

END RESULT:

I love salads. Do you?