Red Beet Salad with honey balsamic dressing

 I love fresh beets but I don't have the time today so I'm taking the short cut and using canned beets. This dressing is amazing and I hope you decide to try it.  Whether using fresh or canned beets I think this dressing and recipe is a keeper. Enjoy!


 

 Dressing:

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup a reduction of balsamic vinegar (prepared earlier)

2 tablespoons honey

Salt to taste

A dash of freshly grated black pepper



 Directions:

Whisk the 1/3 cup of the balsamic vinegar reduction and honey in a medium bowl.  Gradually whisk in the extra virgin olive oil, season with salt and black pepper.  Drizzle the vinaigrette over each serving.  Enjoy!!

Note: Toss with arugula, sliced onions, pecans and raisins in a large bowl.  Place the beets around the arugula leaves

Sprinkle the crumbled feta over the salad.

Directions on how to make a balsamic vinegar reduction:

Empty a bottle of balsamic vinegar in a pot and bring to a boil.  Lower heat to medium and keep it until it has the consistency of honey or thin maple syrup or until the syrup is reduced by half.  Keep an eye on your vinegar while simmering (the vinegar can easily burn towards the end of the simmering process).  Set aside to cool down.  Use the desired amount to make the dressing and store the rest in a small glass bottle in the fridge for a later use.

If using fresh beets:

Place the beets in a large saucepan and pour in enough water to cover the beets.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover up and let it simmer for 11/2 hours. Drain and set aside to cool down.

Peel the beets and slice into medium slices.

How to clean and store lettuce for a crisp fresh salad

My favorite addition to our family meal is a great salad.

A healthy Salad is often the only side you will need for your meal. Of course you must watch what dressing you put on your salad so as not to load it with calories.   Basic is best but I will give you a few dressing suggestions later in the links.

You should try to make your salad early in the day to avoid rushing at dinnertime.  There are a few things you can do early so you'll be able to make dinnertime a breeze.

One:  Select your greens.  Will be be iceberg, romaine, red or green leaf, bibb or a combination of a few?  Personally I like the combination of iceberg and romaine.  Chop or tear bite size pieces of the lettuce for easier eating.  Small pieces are much better than huge pieces you have to cut.  It's neater and it's make for a nicer presentation too!

Two:  Place all of the torn pieces in a large size bowl and rinse thoroughly several times as to remove all dirt and anything undesirable on leaves.  Leave lettuce in cold water and sprinkle with a dash of sugar while getting the vegetables ready.  Set aside.

Three:  Dice or Cut up green onion, red onion or sweet onion.

Four: Dice peppers (red,green,yellow, orange) whatever you have in your fridge.

Five:  Broccoli, cauliflower pieces add a nice touch or zucchini

Six:  Cucumbers, I like to use seeded ones or sometimes I remove the seeds by scooping out the center (sometimes seeds on cucumbers and tomatoes can be bitter).  You can either remove skin and score the cucumber or make sure your cucumber is washed and leave the skin on.

Seven:  Tomatoes   Wash and add to salad right before serving.

Once all of your vegetables are diced, sliced and washed, drain lettuce and add all vegetables.  Place paper towels on top so salad does not dry.  Periodically I remove salad from refrigerator and drain excess water.  Leave in refrigerator with paper towel in place until ready to serve.  Enjoy!

Here are Links for a few of my salad dressings:

Italian Salad Dressing

Mandarin Orange Salad Dressing

6/22/14

Gnocchi Casserole

We love gnocchi.  Homemade preferred but when I am in a bit of a hurry and want something to immediately satisfy I manage to buy several store bought bags of gnocchi and make a gnocchi casserole. They are so versatile in sauce, soup or casseroles. They come frozen or pre packaged for convenience.

Simple to do by boiling your gnocchi in salted water.  Draining well and topping with your favorite(heavy on the)  sauce and of course some mozzarella cheese.

Add whatever you like to make it your casserole.  Veggies, meatballs you decide.

                    

Gnocchi Soup

If you like peas as I do add some and have gnocchi and peas in sauce.

If you really want to carb up the meal add some bread to dip in the sauce as well as a hearty green salad and it's filling and comforting for a day you just don't know what to make for dinner.

High in carbs but hey sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do!

Use your imagination to create a dish that your family would enjoy!