Brushetta or Caprese Salad

 Gabe made this snack in Newport, CA and it was so amazingly delicious, He called it Caprese Salad

Ingredients-

• 10 ripe tomatoes
• 10 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-2 t basil
• mozzarella
• balsamic vinegar, drizzle over top
• sliced 1/2 an onion
• oil
• salt and pepper
• I bought previously sliced day old baguettes 

Instructions-

*set oven at 450 degrees before you start preparing the ingredients. Prepare a sheet pan with foil and spray nonstick on it.

*I quartered the tomatoes and added them to a bowl. add garlic,  basil, oil. salt and pepper- mix it all in a bowl.

*Gabe said cook tomatoes, oil, garlic till the tomatoes pop (35min) or till slightly browned (could be 45min). Then add basil, mozzarella and balsamic- till cheese is melted.

*Cook the baguettes on a oiled foiled sheet pan, Put oil on each toast, Bake at 400 for 4-5 min

10/17/24 I added everything to the sheet pan to cook. I shouldve left out the basil, mozzarella and balsamic. I'll try that next time. After 20 min i increased the temperature to 500

Roasted Beet salad

The Busy Baker


For the salad:
8-10 cups organic mixed greens of your choice (I like a combination of arugula, baby kale, spinach and whatever other organic greens I have on hand) 
4 beets
2 tsp olive oil (for roasting the beets)
A pinch or two of salt 
2 carrots
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese (I use low-fat) 
1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chopped green onion 


For the vinaigrette:
3 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Juice and zest of one large orange
salt and pepper to taste 


Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. While the oven is preheating, line a small baking dish with parchment paper. Wash the beets and cut off the stems. Place them in the parchment-lined baking dish and toss them in 2 tsp olive oil and a pinch of salt.


There's no need to peel the beets at this time. Once they've roasted they'll be very easy to peel. Keeping the peel on while they cook also helps prevent them from bleeding.

Roast the beets at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 45-50 minutes.
After 45-50 minutes, remove the beets from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 5-10 minutes. They'll still be very warm after this time, but you'll be able to handle them without burning yourself.

While you're waiting for them to cool, measure the greens into a large bowl.

Grate the carrots, chop the green onions, and measure out the goat cheese, walnuts and sunflower seeds. 

Remove the skin from the beets using a vegetable peeler, and chop the beets into bite-sized chunks.
Sprinkle the carrots over the salad greens, then add the beets, the goat cheese, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and green onions.

Set the salad aside while you prepare the dressing.

To a medium mason jar, add the honey, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and Dijon mustard. 

Using a microplane zester (you can find the one I use here), zest the orange and add the zest to the mason jar. Be careful not to grate to deeply...it's a good idea to avoid grating any of the white pith because it can be very bitter. Squeeze as much juice as you can out of the orange after it's been zested and add the juice to the mason jar as well.

Add a pinch or two each of salt and pepper. Close the lid of the jar tightly and shake until all the ingredients are combined. The mustard in the dressing not only adds flavour but also acts as an emulsifier (prevents the oil and vinegar from separating).

Drizzle the dressing over the salad (to your taste), toss gently and serve! 

Blueberry & Avocado with grapefruit dressing

A Bountiful Kitchen

• 1 large head of lettuce, preferably Romaine or leaf lettuce, washed,dried and chopped
• OR one 8-12 oz bag of Spring mix or Spinach (about 15 cups total greens)
• 1 pint of blueberries, washed
• 1-2 avocados, cut into chunks or sliced
• 1 cup dried apricots, sliced
• 1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola or Blue cheese, crumbled, I used regular white cheese (mozzarella) and sliced it up in small cubes
• 1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds or almonds (salted or unsalted)
• could add cooked quinoa
• 
  

FOR DRESSING- (2 quantities to choose from)
less    More

2/3    ¾ cup fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1/4    ½ cup white or golden balsamic vinegar
1       2 cups light olive oil or canola oil*
1/2    1 teaspoon salt
1/2    1 teaspoon pepper
1/8    ¼ cup green onion, white part only
1/8    ¼ cup honey or sugar, more or less to taste
optional- 2 cups leftover chicken breast meat, cooked and cut into chunks

I made the less version of the dressing

1. Place the lettuce in a large bowl. Toss with remaining ingredients, reserving some of each of the ingredients for topping the salad for presentation.
2. Make the dressing by whisking all of the ingredients together in blender until green onions are smooth.
3. Drizzle dressing on top of salad or dress the salads individually.
4. Refrigerate any leftovers.

This salad may be made ahead and all of the individual ingredients stored in Ziplock bags until ready to serve. Do not cut the avocados until ready to serve. 
-For serving, reserve some of the ingredients and place on top of the salad after tossing the rest of the ingredients together in bowl. Drizzle dressing on top. 
-If you are doubling the salad, one recipe of the dressing will cover a double or triple batch of salad.
-If you need to cut the avocados early, toss them with some lemon juice and a bit of the dressing and seal with plastic wrap pressed next to the avocado in a bowl or ziplock bag without smashing the avocado. Pressing all of the air out and tossing with something acidic will prevent the avocado from browning! Make sure to refrigerate.
- I used a mixture of Butter lettuce and Spring Mix in the salad photographed, which I love, but don='t recommend if you're going to let the salad sit in the fridge for a while. Butter lettuce is wonderful, but very tender and doesn't hold up well if it has to sit for very long, refrigerated or unrefrigerated! Romaine or other bagged lettuces which have been spun very dry that are pre packaged work well if you have to let the salad sit for a while on a buffet table.