Fruit Salad with Honey-Lime-Dressing

 Salads  Comments Off on Fruit Salad with Honey-Lime-Dressing
Jan 252014
 

Sweet and tangy fruit salad from mylittlegourmet.com

I’m baaack! If you follow my Facebook page then you know that I was a little preoccupied last week with colds and a non-sleeping child. I’m still working on the non-sleeping child part, but all of the colds are gone and we are back to healthy.

FruitSalad5

When the whole family all of a sudden came down with a cold last week, I came to the conclusion, that we need more vitamins in our life and decided to make this yummy fruit salad. The dressing is really simple, yet it adds so much to the salad. If your kids like mint I highly recommend chopping up a few leaves and mixing them in with the dressing. Arik unfortunately doesn’t like mint so I ended up just adding some to my portion.

Sweet and tangy fruit salad from mylittlegourmet.com

So if you guys have found yourselves and your kids bringing home colds this winter, give this healthy immune boosting salad a try. What am I talking about, you should try this one regardless, it is THAT good! 🙂

Sweet and tangy fruit salad from mylittlegourmet.com

 Sweet and tangy fruit salad from mylittlegourmet.com

Fruit Salad with Honey-Lime-Dressing
 
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Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 mango, peeled and chopped
  • 9oz./250g strawberries, chopped
  • 12oz./350g/about ½ a bunch of grapes, halved
  • 4.5oz./1 cup/125g blueberries
For the Dressing:
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 1-1.5 tablespoons honey, depending on how sweet you want it
  • handful mint leaves (optional), chopped
Instructions
  1. Mix all of the fruit together in a large bowl.
  2. Whisk together the lime juice, honey and mint (if using).
  3. Pour dressing over fruit, mix well and serve.

Recipe from Oh! You Cook!

Sweet and tangy fruit salad from mylittlegourmet.com

 Posted by at 13:26

Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad

 Salads  Comments Off on Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad
Mar 222013
 

Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad | My Little Gourmet

I don’t know how many times I’ve found something great on Pinterest and then wondered why I didn’t think of doing that myself. Once again it’s happened…Bev from BevCooks introduced me to the idea of roasting corn under the broiler. As soon as I saw this pin I thought of one of my favorite summer salads and wondered if it would work for this as well.

Oven-Broiled Corn

Make roasted corn in minutes: Just toss frozen or canned corn with olive oil, salt and pepper, place on a lined cookie sheet, and broil in the oven for 5-7 minutes.

Every summer I look forward to finally being able to light up the grill, grill some corn and make this delicious salad. It’s so simple and easy to make and tastes incredibly refreshing. So, naturally, as soon as I saw this pin I immediately went to work and broiled some corn…and it worked. The salad was absolutely delicious (although, I must say, it definitely tastes best when using corn straight off of the grill). But this option is the perfect substitute when it is still snowing outside in March (yeah, that’s right, we STILL have snow) and you just want a little taste of summer.

Cubed Avocado

For easy chopping just cube avocado in the peel and scoop out with a spoon

I ended up using canned corn because that is all I had on hand, but I imagine frozen would roast even better and get a little crispier. Once I’ve tried it out I will report back (*here now finally my report back: frozen definitely turned out better than canned, although both work just fine)…and now I’m going to grab myself a bowl of salad, crank up the heat and some Bob Marley, and wait for summer to come; or at least for it to stop snowing and temperatures to rise above freezing.

Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad | My Little Gourmet

Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 4 ears/10 oz/285 g of corn, fresh, frozen or canned
  • 1 avocado, cubed
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. Grill 4 shucked ears of corn, rotating often, until lightly charred. Let cool slightly and carefully cut kernels from cob.
  2. If using frozen or canned, toss with some olive oil, salt and pepper, place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and broil for 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned.
  3. Toss corn, avocado and cilantro gently in a bowl.
  4. Add lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and toss again.
 
 Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Living
 Posted by at 20:19

German (Berliner) Potato Salad

 Salads  6 Responses »
Dec 212012
 

German Potato Salad

Since I come from a part-German, part-American family, I grew up with Christmas traditions from both sides.  This was great because I got the best of both worlds, but I’ve come to realize I also missed quite a few traditions, since there is only room and time for so many.  So, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks asking just about every German person I’ve come across what some of their family Christmas traditions are.  I was especially interested in knowing what sort of foods they eat on Christmas Eve because I needed some ideas. Surprisingly, the majority of them said “potato salad and bratwurst.”  Not stereotypical German at all, I know. 😉  I personally have never heard of this tradition, but after some thought, I decided I like it.  You don’t want to eat anything too heavy the evening before a huge Christmas meal and you also don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen.  Potato salad and brats seem like the perfect answer.  And luckily I have the perfect potato salad recipe for this tradition…

German Potato Salad

I’ve never been a big fan of potato salad.  I’ve always found it to be a bit bland and too “potatoey.” 🙂 That is, until I found this recipe for German (specifically Berliner) potato salad.  I don’t know if it’s the apple or the delicious dressing, but something makes this potato salad too die for.  I know we will be enjoying it, along with some brats on December 24th for our new Christmas Eve tradition!  What will you all be having for your Christmas Eve meal?

German Potato Salad

Hope your days are filled with lots of presents, delicious food and most importantly time with family and friends! Happy Holidays to all of you!

German Potato Salad

German (Berliner) Potato Salad
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs./1kg potatoes, Yellow Finn, Yukon Gold, and red potatoes tend to work best
  • 2 teaspoons mustard
  • 3 teaspoons sugar
  • ½ cup/100 ml pickle juice
  • ¼ cup/50 ml white wine vinegar
  • ½ cup/100 ml sunflower oil
  • 1 purple onion, chopped finely
  • 1 apple, a tart kind such as Pink Lady, chopped
  • 4-5 medium pickles, chopped
  • 3-4 green onions, chopped
  • salt and fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. Place potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water and tablespoon of salt, cook until tender and rinse with cold water. Once cool enough to handle, peel and slice potatoes.
  2. In the meantime put mustard, sugar, pickle juice, vinegar, oil, very finely chopped onion, some salt, and quite a bit of fresh ground black pepper in a sealable jar or glass and shake to combine.
  3. In a large bowl place one layer of potato slices, followed by a handful of pickles, a handful of apples, a couple of spoonfuls of dressing and salt and pepper. Continue to layer until all of the ingredients are used up and pour any excess dressing over the top.
  4. Allow salad to sit at least 3-4 hours, but preferably overnight and then toss to combine.
  5. Mix in the chopped green onions and serve.

Recipe adapted from Petra Regina 

 

 Posted by at 14:00

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

 Salads  2 Responses »
Nov 022012
 

Quinoa salad with dried cranberries, pine nuts, and feta

I have to admit I tried quinoa for the first time just a few weeks ago.  I know I’m behind the times.  I’d heard a lot about it, but was a little weary about cooking it myself.  Well, I finally did it, and I haven’t looked back since.  This stuff is great…easy to cook and so versatile.

For those of you who are also a little clueless about quinoa (if there are any of you left out there) here are a few facts…

1.) Quinoa originally comes from South America, is pronounced kinwa, and is a species of goosefoot grown primarily for its edible seeds.

2.) It is a pseudocereal rather than a true, cereal, or grain.  As a member of the chenopod family it is more closely related to spinach or beets.

3.) The nutrient composition is very good compared with common cereals.  Quinoa grains contain good quantities of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and iron.  It is gluten-free and has a high protein content (14% by mass).

The more you know. 🙂 These and many more facts on quinoa can be found on good old Wikipedia.

All in all my first experience with quinoa was a positive one.  The whole family loved this salad, especially little Arik.  I was sort of worried that he would pick out the dried cranberries and only eat those, but he ended up finishing his whole portion and even asking for seconds.  What more can one want…

Alright, now it’s your turn to give it a try.  Hope your families enjoy it just as much!

 Quinoa salad with dried cranberries, pine nuts and feta

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
 
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Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups quinoa
  • 3 cups water
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup or 3 tablespoons pine nuts
  • ¼ cup/60ml olive oil
  • ¼ cup/60ml lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh italian parsley
  • 2 scallions
  • ¼ cup or 3 tablespoons dried cranberries
  • ⅓ cup/100g crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
  1. Put quinoa in a strainer or cheese cloth and wash well. Place in a large pot, add water and salt, bring to a boil, lower heat, and let simmer with lid on until all water is absorbed. (15 to 20 minutes) Don't stir the "grain" while it is cooking. Test for doneness by tilting the pan to one side, making sure all the water has been absorbed. Remove the lid and let rest 5 to 10 minutes.
  2. Dry-toast pine nuts in skillet until they begin to change color.
  3. Combine olive oil, lemon juice, mint, and parsley in a large bowl.
  4. Add scallions, cranberries, feta cheese, and toasted pine nuts and toss. Add cooked warm quinoa a little at a time.
  5. Toss well and serve at room temperature.
 
Adapted from Feeding the Whole Family
 Posted by at 13:14