Bacon, Bacon, Bacon

Salad-a-Day #13

Fabulous Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

 

 

Bacon, Bacon, Bacon

I cooked bacon today.  It was delightful. 

It makes the house smell really good :)  Well, at least initially.  I must admit...I can't stand our house to smell like food after we have eaten dinner and have done the dishes.  I want the smell to disappear "right then".  Like the smell needs to go down the drain with the dirty dishwater...  My honey LOVES for it to smell like whatever we have cooked for hours and hours.  I want our house to smell fresh and not like food.  I am constantly burning candles to mask the smell.  Or opening windows. Or running the vent-a-hood. Or spraying room freshener.  So..right now it is 9pm in Texas.  It smells like bacon in my living room, where I am watching the Houston Astros play the Texas Rangers on tv with my honey inches away from me.  I am trying to convince myself that the smell of bacon is delightful...  I mean, I LOVE bacon.  I believe that you can't trust someone who doesn't like bacon.  You may not eat it because of health reasons, or another good reason, but you know that deep down they would LOVE to eat several thick slices of applewood smoked bacon if they were a little stronger (or weaker...).

Due to my love of bacon, and that today is my "free" day on my diet - where I allow myself something sweet, and something fattening, I am making a bacon salad.

 

Ingredients

Delicious-ness

The warm dressing poured over the salad right before you eat it is really tasty!

I also made a skillet of cornbread to eat with this delightful salad for lunch today. 

And, I must say "Yum!!"

I made a post with my cornbread recipe last fall if you are interest click here:  Joeby's Cornbread

This is the picture I sent my honey today to make him jealous of my yummy salad :)

 

Fabulous Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

6 cups baby spinach

2 hard boiled eggs, cooled and sliced (I sprinkle them with salt and pepper)

8-9 slices crispy cooked bacon (divided)

2 oz. blue cheese (or freshly shaved parmesan is also delightful)

1 sliced avocado

Dressing:

1/4 cup bacon grease (saved from cooking bacon above, or from your bacon grease stash)

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tablespoons golden balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

salt and pepper (a couple of dashes of each)

 

I cook my bacon in the oven on a wire rack so the grease falls into a sheet pan.  I cook at 425 degrees for about 15-20 minutes - or until nicely crispy browned. It crumbles better if extra crispy.

Place spinach on a platter, and arrange sliced eggs, 5-6 slices of crumbled bacon (save the other 3 slices for the dressing), cheese, and avocado around on the spinach.

For the dressing - heat bacon grease, garlic, vinegar, sugar, mustard.  Stir with whisk until nice and hot.  Add bacon and salt and pepper.  You don't need much salt and pepper - especially if you season your eggs before placing them on the spinach.

Right before serving, pour warm dressing all over the beautiful salad and eat immediately.

 

I hope that your day has been delightful!

Until tomorrow,

~ Joeby

 



 

Monday... Salad-a-Day #12

Salad-a-Day #12

 

Yesterday I had a trio of this week's salads for lunch.  Marinated Black-Eye Pea, Broccoli BowTie Pasta Salad, and Carrot and Raisin.  All have held up well.  I am really impressed with how good the carrot and raisin salad tasted after several days!!  I was expecting it to not be good after the first day.  The other two were really good, but I expected those to still be good since they were fresher.  And, since I have mango almost every single day, I added a chunk of mango to my lunch.

 

Citrus and Avocado Salad with Maple Vinaigrette

I found this citrus salad recipe over the weekend and thought it sounded pretty tasty. And, it is :)

It is tasty and light and just perfect for summer!  I love grapefruit and orange added to salads and add them to a tossed salad often.  I have been trying to add avocados to my diet since they are so good and fresh at the grocery right now - and they are really healthy!!

 Isn't this salad pretty?  I also love this bowl that I got in the sale room at Anthropologie last week :)

 The feta added a nice touch to the salad.  I added pumpkin seeds, but I could see walnuts or toasted pecans being really good with this, also.

 It was delicious!  My husband even liked it and he isn't that fond of grapefruit (without sugar poured on top :)

 

 

Citrus and Avocado Salad with Maple Vinaigrette

3 cups baby spinach (or arugula or mixed greens) - I used spinach because that is what I had on hand

2 oranges

2 grapefruits

1 avocado, diced

1/2 cup nuts (your choice)

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Vinaigrette:

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon maple syrup (the real stuff)

salt and pepper to taste

Arrange spinach (or greens) on a pretty platter. 

I like to "peel" my citrus with a knife by slicing the peel away and the pith with it.  It is easy to do if you use a very sharp knife and cuts away the pithy part that sticks to the sections when you just peel and section - although that is fine to do if you want.  Place citrus around on the spinach.  Then sprinkle around the avocado, nuts and feta.

I mix the dressing by putting all ingredients in a small canning jar and then shaking it like crazy.  Pour on right after you have shaken it so that it goes on all mixed.

 

Around The Yard Yesterday



Yesterday I was enjoying my Mother's Day when this critter came along and nearly scared me to death!!  I think they can hear, because when I screamed, he went running one way and I went running another.  I have seen many lizards around our yard, but they are usually the little green/brown ones.  This was like 4 times as big.  I was freaked...  My husband likes these creepy crawly critters.  He said it was a "skink".  I'm just grateful he lives outside...

Fig Tree - has baby figs growing on it!!!

 

I hope you enjoy the Citrus salad - it is really yummy and healthy :)

I am going to go watch "Dancing With The Stars".  I love it!

Until tomorrow,

~Joeby



Happy Mother's Day!

Salad-a-Day #11

Happy Mother's Day

 

I hope that everyone is enjoying a fabulous Mother's Day, whether you happen to be a Mother or not.

I love that Mother's Day falls on a Sunday.  We only go to Church on Sunday.  We seldom do anything other than stay at home and just be together.  I love Sundays more that any other day :)

My Sweetheart cooked on the grill special for me today.  I admit that he usually cooks on the grill at least once on the weekend, and it is usually what ever I pick for him to cook.  I have been trying to eat much lighter meals lately.  I need to do that all the time, not just from time-to-time....  Man it is hard to do!  I LOVE to cook and I LOVE to eat...  I know the secret to losing weight is "to move more - eat less."  Putting it in practice is my problem.

 

Today, the recipe is "Joeby's Grilled Shrimp Salad."

 

Joeby's Grilled Shrimp Salad

Plate full of spinach

On top, place:

Any assortment of grill veggies

I used:

bell pepper (red and orange)

onions

tomatoes

mushrooms

salad tortilla chips strips (in cruton section of store)

A few red grapes cut in half

A few big grilled shrimp

 

I thought of the grilled veggies as my "dressing" for the salad and didn't add any additional dressing.

For my veggies - I used olive oil and dried french herbs with a little salt and pepper.  We put them on skewers so more of the surface of the veggies get a little grill action.

For the shrimp - I sprayed them with olive oil and sprinkled on lemon pepper and salt - also putting the shrimp on skewers for cooking.

My husband said he grills the veggies and shrimp for 6 minutes (3 on each side).

 

I hope you like the salad as much as I did.  It is my new favorite food.

Until tomorrow,

~ Joeby



Weekend! Salad-a-Day #10

Black-Eye Pea Salad

Today was a lovely day in the North Houston area.  It rained late yesterday!  We needed it badly.  Even though today was pretty hot and steamy, it was fabulous.  Being a Saturday, and having my husband home, helped :)

 

Several years ago - like maybe 18 years ago... Doesn't it make you feel old when you can remember something as far back as decades?  Like more than one decade, at that?   Anyway, 18 years ago or so, my husband and I were in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  It is a LOVELY place, it is hilly there, and a little hippy-ish (just perfect)....  We stayed at a fabulous bed and breakfast that is now out of business, but we loved it there and went more than once.  While walking around the downtown area, we came upon a great burger place.  Instead of the usual french fries with a burger, this little funky place served a marinated bean salad.  That was before the days of digital cameras, and for sure before cell-phone pictures, so I have forgotten the name of the burger joint.  I have attempted to recreate it ever since.  I have made many delicous attempts in the years since. 

 

Yesterday I made this little happy salad that reminds us of that happy trip many years ago.

Marinated Black-Eye Pea Salad

Black-eye peas, yellow and orange bell pepper, green onions and fresh herbs

It was SO good!  I had this salad with crackers and cheese for lunch yesterday :)

 

Marinated Black-Eye Pea Salad

2 cans black-eye peas dranied and rinsed

1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced (to about the size of the peas)

1/2 orange bell pepper, diced (to about the size of the peas)

2 green onions, chopped (to about the size of the peas)

1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme

1 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary

1 teaspoon fresh chopped oregano

1 tablepsoon fresh chopped parsley

dressing

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons basalmic vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

Put first 8 ingredients in bowl.  Mix dressing ingredients and pour over pea mixture.  Chill until ready to serve (tastes better chilled and allows flavors to get aquainted).

This is a very forgiving salad - put what ever beans (or peas) and veggies you like.  The dressing is the key to bringing it all together.  If you make a bigger bean salad with several kinds of beans, just double the dressing recipe to coat the beans.

 

Saturday Gardening

Digging potatoes!!  The sweet squirrels that live in our yard are after my potatoes... Yes, they dig up potatoes.  So, I thought I would dig a few today to make sure we get to enjoy some, too.

I picked green beans and a couple of squash and dug these lovely potatoes today.

I am going to see what kind of salad I can come up with from these fresh veggies in the next day or so!

 

Until tomorrow,

~ Joeby

 

 

 

Salad-a-Day #9

Broccoli Bow-Tie Pasta Salad

A Little Lighter

 

I am trying to loose a little weight...So, I thought I would take a salad that I have made in the past and try to lighten it up!  Well, it turned out great!  Makes me wonder why I ever made it so fattening in the first place :)

 

Toasted pecans, broccoli, bacon, pasta, onions and grapes

 

 Salad - ready to eat!

 I think my favorite parts of this salad are the grapes and toasted pecans.

This cute plate!  Isn't it fabulous?  I got it at Anthropologie last week.  I have read that if you eat off smaller plates, that you can trick yourself into feeling full more quickly.  So, I got a couple of cute salad plates for us to give it a try.  If nothing else, I got a few really cute

plates out of the deal :)

 

Broccoli Bow-Tie Pasta Salad

3 cups cooked bow-tie pasta

2 cups broccoli - cut into bite-size pieces

1 1/2 cups grapes, cut in half

1 cup toasted pecans

1/2 cup green onions sliced thinly (or red onion)

3 slices of bacon cut in tiny dice-size pieces

1/2 cup mayonaise (can use the light version - but I did not)

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

Place first 6 ingredients in large bowl.  Mix mayo, vinegar, sugar, and celery seed together with whisk - mixing until smooth.  Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat all pieces with dressing.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool (tastes better).

 

I hope you enjoy the salad recipe.  It is pretty standard, but has about 1/4 the salad dressing from several recipes that I found on pinterest.  I did not miss the heaviness of the other recipes (I really liked it better a little lighter - makes me wonder what else has hidden calories

that I can eliminate).

Until tomorrow,

~Joeby



Old-Fashioned Salad Take 2 on Day #8

I have to admit...I do not think of "sweet salads" as "real" salads...  I think of them as dessert...or maybe, a dessert salad.  Something you eat along side a piece of coconut cake, or a piece of pecan pie.   We never had sweet salads when we were growing up in Arkansas.  I think they are grand, but not to eat with anything remotely savory...  I even have a problem with cranberry sauce - but I will save that for a Thanksgiving post.

All that being said, I am going to give a recipe for a Sweet Salad today! 

 

Arkansas Watergate Salad

My dad was a rice farmer in Arkansas.  Because of that, we used more rice than most people.  I LOVE rice and can eat it with almost anything.  This recipe for Watergate salad has rice in it, and it is delicious!  The recipe comes from the cookbook in the picture above.  It is a fabulous cookbook. I got "Prairie Harvest" as a high school graduation gift, way back in 1985.  It is a church cookbook - St. Pepter's Episcopal Church from Tollville, Arkansas (near Stuttgart, Arkansas - a farming community near where I grew up).  Stuttgart is the rice and duck capital of the world and hosts the World Championship Duck Calling Contest each year near Thanksgiving.  Now, you haven't lived until you have been to the

Duck Calling Contest in Stuttgart!!

Rice, pistachio pudding mix, cool whip, pecans, and crushed pineapple - what's not to like?

I love these little China bowls...  When I worked for an electric utility company right out of high school, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, one of my co-workers was helping his Aunt enter a nursing home facility.  I was about to get married, so he and his wife offered me whatever I wanted from his Aunt's kitchen dishes, pots and pans!  I was SO excited!  I'm sure the rest of the family had already gotten the expenisve treasures, but I got SO many fabulous things!  A lovely set of every-day China was a true treasure for me.  I especially love these little bowls - not too big, and not too tiny - just right for a big spoonful of Watergate salad with rice :)  I have been using them for about 23 year now - and they are still perfect!

Arkansas Watergate Rice Salad

1 - 8oz container Cool Whip, thawed

1 - 3oz. pkg Jello instant pistachio pudding

1 - 8-9oz can crushed pineapple, do not drain (in own juice)

1 cup cooked white rice

1 cup chopped pecans

Mix ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to serve (until good and cold).

 

I hope that you are having a fabulous day.  I am watching the NFL Draft with my husband and father-in-law.  I deserve extra points for this :)

Until tomorrow,

~ Joeby



 



Old Fashioned Carrot & Raisin Salad - Day 7

Salad-a-Day #7

Carrot and Raisin Salad

 

I have a sweetheart for a husband.  He is always trying to help me and encourage me.  I have been hunting and hunting for recipes in my large collection of cookbooks.  My husband and I were talking and he suggested this Carrot and Raisin Salad as one of his favorites.  I did not grow up eating it, and have really seldom had it.  I found many recipes using many different flavor combinations.  I combined several recipes to get this version.  I hope you like it as much as my husband and I do :)

 

 These are carrots that I pulled from my garden tonight - just for this picture.  I did not use my own for the salad, because I do not have that many in my garden.  I am planning on cooking

these tomorrow in a savory way.

Isn't the little white dish as cute as can be?  It has "Delta Airlines" stamped on the back.  I bought it at a flea market several years ago.  I think way back in the good-old-days the airlines use to serve first-class meals on little China dishes.  And, maybe they still do, but I have only flown first-class 3 times - each time my husband got upgraded from coach to first-class and let me have his good seat (told you he was a sweetie).

 It was as good as can be!! 

Carrot & Raisin Salad

3 cups shredded carrots

1 small can of crushed pineapple - drained

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup mayonaise

1 cup raisins (or combo of raisins and craisins)

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Mix crushed pineapple and sugar together in bottom of large mixing bowl.  Add remaining ingredients, stir gently to mix well.  Chill before serving.

 

Wildflowers in Our Yard

 Pink Poppy

 Our wildflower area is starting to come to life!

We get free wildflower seeds each year at The Woodlands, TX Wildflower Festival (in the fall).  We scatter the seeds and wait to see what blooms - fun and beautiful!

 

Hope you are having a fabulous day!

Until tomorrow,

~Joeby