Roasted veggie and quinoa salad

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa, well rinsed
• 2 cups chicken stock (plus additional for steaming greens)
• Fresh basil or other herbs, finely diced

• 1 red bell pepper, cut into quarters
• 1 yellow summer squash, sliced in half (remove seeds if you prefer)
• 1 large portabello mushroom, sliced into large strips
• 1/4-1/2 (depending on size) sweet onion, cut into rings
• 1-2 Roma tomatoes, sliced in half
• 2 ears corn, cooked and cut off cobb
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil (plus extra for greens)
• pepper

• 8 cups mustard greens, rinsed and cut into large pieces
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil

Preparation

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions, substituting chicken stock for water. Stir in basil or additional herbs after cooking.
2. In a large saucepan, saute garlic in 1 Tablespoon of olive oil until brown, but not burnt (You will have to watch closely). Add 1/4 cup of chicken stock to pot and top with greens. Cover and let steam for 25 minutes, or until greens are bright in color and tender.
3. Toss remaining ingredients in a large pan until evenly coated with oil and vinegar. Spread out vegetables in a single layer. Place under broiler until veggies start to char. Turn once to darken both sides. As vegetables finish you may need to remove some from the pan before others. Chop cooked vegetables into smaller pieces.
4. Layer dish starting with mustard greens, then quinoa, followed by vegetables. You may choose to add liquid from the vegetable pan or additional olive oil if dish is dry.

Barley salad

Do you like potlucks? Of course you do, who doesn't. Do you like Reser's salads? Of course you don't, NO one does! Then stop buying gross "picnic salads" from Safeway and start making delicious summer salads with veggies and grains.

Ingredients
Salad:

• 1 cup uncooked barley
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn (or about 3 ears fresh corn)
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into small strips
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Cook barley according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
2. In a large bowl, mix barley, corn, peppers, and onion.
3. Mix dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Feastgiving sweet potatoes

Ingredients:

• 4 sweet potatoes, quartered
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 cups miniature marshmallows

Directions:

Drop potatoes in boiling water. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until tender. Drain water and peel potatoes (skins will slip right off, this is easier than peeling before boiling). Melt butter and add remaining ingredients, except for marshmallows. Pour butter mixture over potatoes and mash until smooth. Place in casserole dish and top with marshmallows. Bake at 325 for 1 hour.

Mandarin orange salad

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 bag romaine lettuce
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 2 green onions, diced
• 1 can mandarin oranges

Dressing ingredients:

• dash Tobasco
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• pepper
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 Tablespoon parsely
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

Directions:

In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, heat almonds and sugar until sugar dissolves and coats almonds. Stir constantly to prevent burning.

Mix dressing ingredients and pour over remaining ingredients in a large bowl.

Buffalo Chicken No-fried Fried Rolls

What do you get when Far East meets Deep South? Spring rolls filled with hot wings! Who says the south isn't multicultural?

(PS- If these look gross it is only because I ate all the good looking ones before I remembered to take a picture. They may not be pretty, but they are good.)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cubed, cooked chicken breast
• 1/4 -1/2 cup Frank's Hot Wing Sauce
• 1/4 cup Blue cheese, crumbled (optional)
• 1/4 cup Celery, finely diced
• Phyllo dough squares (aprox. 5x5)
• Pan spray
• Blue cheese dressing

Preparation:

1. Mix chicken with hot sauce to taste. Add in blue cheese crumbles (optional) and celery.
2. Place about a tablespoon of chicken filling in the center of one Phyllo sheet.Moisten edges of dough with water and roll dough around filling, sealing edges tightly.
3. Place on baking sheet and spray with pan spray. Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes, flipping once to brown both sides.
4. Serve with blue cheese dressing... and football on the tv.

Nothin' Beets a Salad!

Dwight Schrute made us work on the farm out in Sisters for 3 weeks before he gave up this little gem. That explains why it has been awhile since our last post.

Ingredients

2-3 large red beets
1/2 cup sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon agave nectar or honey
1 clove minced garlic (or less)
3/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound spinach, chopped 
1/2 cup walnuts or hazelnuts

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese or chevre

Directions

Heat oven to 400°F. Cut stems off beets and place on a piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Make a pouch out of the foil, sealing it tightly. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let beets steam for 10 minutes. Open pouch to cool.

Meanwhile, whisk together vinegar, mustard, honey, and garlic in a small bowl. Whisk in the oils and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

After beets have cooled, peel off the skins and cut the beet into bite-size pieces. Mix beets with half of vinaigrette, then mix spinach with the rest of the vinaigrette. Transfer greens to plates and top with beets, walnuts, and cheese.

Stolen lentil salad

The bearded man we stole this from called this "East meets West salad." We traded some very important things for this recipe. I'm going to miss my brother...



The ingredients:
2 cups cooked lentils
2 cups grated carrots
1 bunch scallion
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 stalk celery
1 red pepper
1/2 cup sesame oil
1/2 ume plum vinegar

Mix together and enjoy!

Tasty Collard Greens

It was a nice day out so Joe and I headed to the farmer's market down on campus. We found some collard greens and decided to give them a try. I altered a recipe found online and they turned out pretty good. Not bad for my first time. Joe liked them with a little hot sauce over the top.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1-2 cups chicken stock
1 bunch collard greens - rinsed, trimmed and chopped
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic, and gently saute until light brown. Pour in the chicken stock. Add the collard greens to the cooking pot, and turn the heat up to medium-high, cover the pot. Let the greens cook down for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat to medium, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook until the greens are tender and dark green. Drain greens, reserving liquid. Mix in red pepper flakes. Use liquid to reheat leftovers.