Yummy, yummy Greek salad

Our third (but really second…) mint meal was a delicious Greek salad.  We also had potatoes and chicken (with oregano and salt and pepper) with the Greek salad.

My Greek salad dressing making skills needed some assistance, so I took to the internet for some tips.  I found the perfect and uber-delicious dressing mix on the Pioneer Woman Cooks blog.

The dressing included:

• 1/4 cup Olive Oil  Duh! Hadn’t crossed my mind before…
• 2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar I usually use way too much vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Sugar (more To Taste)  Didn’t think of this either
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced  A first on the garlic too…You’d think I’ve never made Greek salad before…
• 6 whole Kalamata Olives (extra), Chopped Fine  Genius! Why hadn’t I thought of this?!
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1 whole Lemon, For Squeezing

I HIGHLY recommend the Pioneer Woman’s Greek salad.  It’s so, so good!!

PLEASE NOTE: I did not include lettuce in my Greek salad like the Pioneer Woman does, but I’m sure it’s delicious with or without the lettuce.

It’s the middle of winter, but there is no better time to grill a steak and enjoy a refreshing summer salad.  I found the recipe on the Whole Foods website and discovered a really great recipe database.

Flank steak and Thai summer salad

The steak marinade included:

• Lime juice
• Hoisin sauce (instead of fish sauce)
• Reduced-sodium soy sauce
• Sugar
• Chopped shallot

The summer salad included:

• Baby bok choy
• Radishes
• Cucumber
• Carrots
• Fresh basil leaves
• Fresh mint leaves
• Fresh cilantro leaves

It was so, so good!  We paired the steak and salad with some potatoes and the whole meal was quite tasty as leftovers.  Expect this to be a regular on our menus once the weather warms up!

My most sincere apologies for my delay in mint meal postings.  Never fear, we’ve been eating mint– and loving it– everyday!  (I don’t know if this counts of not, but these are two of my most favorite things and they just happen to be mint!)

My favorite daily doses of mint

Week 4: MINT

The next adventure ingredient is… MINT!  Thanks, Krissie for the suggestion!

I realized that I’m not really a fan of delicata squash (or butternut squash), so this week’s ingredient is VERY welcome!

We’ve got some great ideas for this week… Check back soon!

Thank you to Molly for our ingredient of the week: Delicata squash! 

Week 3: Delicata Squash

From Wikipedia: This squash is a winter squash with distinctive longitudinal dark green stripes on a yellow or cream colored background and sweet, orange-yellow flesh. It is also known as the peanut squash, Bohemian squash, or sweet potato squash.  Although considered a winter squash, delicata squash belongs to the same species as all types of summer squash, including zucchini and yellow crookneck squash.

Delicata squash is most commonly baked, but can also be microwaved, sautéed or steamed. It may be stuffed with meat or vegetable mixtures. The seeds of the squash are also eaten, usually after being toasted. This squash is not as rich in beta-carotene as other winter squashes, but is a good source of dietary fiber and potassium, as well as smaller amounts of vitamins C and B, magnesium, and manganese.

We found some great recipes to try out!  Check back soon…

This meal was really quite tasty but, unfortunately, it doesn’t photograph well.  I followed the Food Network recipe pretty closely, although I omitted about half of the butter and salt and added Jenny O’s Italian sausage-flavored ground turkey.  This particular ground turkey is one of my most favorites– If I could, I would have it everyday.  It’s also really good in a red sauce over pasta.

All in all, our adventure with kale this week was a complete success! I’m big on leafy greens and this ingredient has found a spot in our weekly rotation.  In fact, I already have a kale recipe planned for one of our non-food experiment meals next week!

Photo: Not so appetizing. Actual taste: Delicious!

For our second kale meal, we used Bobby Flay’s sauteed kale recipe— we didn’t include the  vinegar, but did add extra garlic.  (I love garlic.)  We also made a pork tenderloin recipe derived from one of our favorite restaurants, Osteria la Spiga.  The pork was cut into medallions, floured and pan-fried.  The orzo was boiled per the package instructions and finished with some butter and parsley.

The final product:

Voila! Tasty AND healthy!