Side Salad Dinner

Like summer tapas. 

The possibilities are endless, here are a few to get you started. 

Brussels Sprouts with Dried Cherries and Pistachios

Brussels Sprouts

Olive Oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Dried Cherries

Pistachios

Coat the Brussels sprouts  with olive oil and roast at 425 for 10 minutes. Toss with remaining ingredients.

 

Sesame Cucumber Salad

Cucumbers (thinly sliced

Sesame Seeds

Sesame Oil

Truffle Salt

Toss all ingredients 

 

Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad

Quinoa 
Sweet Potato
Chicken Broth
Cinnamon
Honey
Put desired amount of quinoa and chopped sweet potato in a pot add chicken broth until covered. Bring to boil and cook until quinoa is sprouted and sweet potato is soft. Drizzle with honey and cinnamon to taste. Serve hot.

 

If you have enough of them who needs a main dish?

Creamy Cucumber Salad

Ahh the lovely cucumber...good for dipping and on greens salads! If you want to eat it plain then this is one of our household favorites! 

I rarely make the time to do this but one trick I heard was to cut the cuc's beforehand, add salt and let sit so most of the water drains out. This makes for a thicker and longer lasting creamy salad. 

Creamy Cucumber Salad (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, New Cook Book)

2 medium cucumbers (peeled or not both are wonderful)
¼ sweet onion finely chopped (I like to sauté a little first)
½ cup greek yogurt
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
6 drops liquid stevia (lemon flavor is great!)
Salt and pepper to taste




Mix onions, yogurt, vinegar and stevia well.  Add sliced cucumbers and mix well. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Simplest Cucumber Salad =)

This is a quick, easy way to get in some green stuff along with your next meal or snack! Simplest Cucumber Salad is a little spin off of caprese salad. Simple, yummy and quick....as I wish all meals could transpire. I sat down to eat this the other day after I let it sit on the counter for a few hours and boy was it delicious!! Eating room temperature vegetables can be so satisfying. We forget in our modern world that our veggies used to come right out of the garden. I can honestly say that a warm tomato and cucumber in the peak of the summer, straight from ground is unbelievable.

Simplest Cucumber Salad Recipe

4 mini cucumbers sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil 
Salt and pepper to taste (truffle salt is my fav with this....www.artisansalt.com)

Does this really require explanation? Thinly slice cucumbers, drizzle with olive oil then salt and pepper to taste. Simple, easy and tasty!!

Here are some fun facts about cucumbers:

Worlds Healthiest Foods Website: Cucumbers

I love how they crunch, 

Bretta

bretta.vemma.com

Hummus and Cucumber Appetizers

I love appetizers. 

My favorite meals are spent snacking on varieties of small items of food. 

My parents, who are consummate entertainers, always have an appetizer waiting.  I always appreciated the gesture. 

Until I had kids.

For a few years we dreaded having to squawk "You'll spoil your dinner!" "You can have one and that is all!" and then listen to the complaining and requests that followed. 

We have made two progressions in this conundrum. 

One: serve items that you don't mind if the kids fill up on.

Especially when serving more expensive dinner items. 

Oh no, you're too full for more sushi?? 

Bummer.

The second is the fact that my kids are growing up. 

I no longer have to watch them like a hawk over the tray of crackers limiting their intake to a normal humans'. "You can each have two." Translates to them each enjoying two and that being the end of the conversation.

I have loved every stage, so far, but I do appreciate the payoffs from the years of following through with 2 means 2 and whining will get you a quick ticket to your room with none. 

Cucumbers with Hummus and Flax seeds

OK, when you name something like that it makes writing out the recipe a little redundant.

Cucumbers

Hummus

Flax seeds

For a quick hummus I throw a can of garbanzo beans, 4 cloves of garlic (or more),  a couple tablespoons of fresh lemon juice,  a couple tablespoons of olive oil and salt into the food processor and blend until smooth with chunks.