Father's Day Food

Erin said I should post about the salads I made for Father's Day.  Sorry, no food photos, just a run-down of what I made:

Honey Mustard Potato Salad

I steamed a great big bag of gourmet white potatoes.  They were smallish, but I cut some of them in half so they'd steam a little faster.  After steaming, I sprinkled them with kosher salt and a few twists of fresh pepper.  Then I mixed up a dressing with plain old yellow mustard (it's all I had on hand), a generous squirt of honey, a bit of olive oil and a few splashes of balsamic vinegar.  Then I poured all the dressing over the warm potatoes and let them marinate overnight.  Oh, yea...I also chopped a sweet red pepper and put that in the salad along with a couple of chopped hard boiled eggs and a bit of chopped parsley.  This salad just got better with time. 

Pasta Salad

I'm sure you all have your own variations on pasta salad.  This one had whole wheat rotini, a jar of marinated artichoke hearts, a bunch of sliced black and Spanish olives, a chopped sweet pepper, and some cut up pepperoni.  I only added a little oil and vinegar since the artichoke heart marinade was pretty flavorful.

Avocado Salad

Three ripe avocados, two chopped Roma tomatoes, a little lemon juice.  That's all.

Broccoli Salad

Here.  I left out the bacon.

These salads were served with some lovely sourdough bread, toasted and spread with butter. Everyone was very happy.  And that was even before the blackberry tart.

Truly, I could eat like this every day.

Blackberry time

We have a power cut up the road - a big ugly swath with high tension power lines.  It's an eyesore, to be sure.  The red clay hillside along the cut is eroding away. Every time it rains, rivers of red ochre mud course down the street.

But this landscape does have a redeeming feature...

Masses of blackberry brambles all over the hill.

Queen Ann's lace, too.

The flowers decorated the table at a bridal shower.  I made the blackberry tart for Father's Day, sort of using this recipe.  Pretty delicious!

Cooking lull

It is rather sad that I have not posted anything on this blog since February.  That reflects the state of my kitchen endeavors in the last months.  A little sad.  A bit boring.  Humdrum.  Repetitive.  Uninspired. You get the picture.

I am looking forward to summer cooking and farmer's market meals and cucs and basil from the garden and all that summer food goodness to reinvigorate my culinary pursuits and hopefully, give you a little encouragement and inspiration....

....when I get back.  Til then, take a look at these wonderful vegetarian supper posts from my friend, Tonia, and be inspired!

Here's another salad...

...I can't wait to try.  I love portobellos and I love anything roasted.  This salad combination sounds amazing.

I keep on eating the kale salad.  I vary it with things like grapefruit sections, pecans, and raspberry vinegar.  "Massaging" the kale really is an important part of this recipe.  Just roll up your sleeves and stick your hands right down into that kaley, olive oily goodness and gently squeeze it around a bit.  It doesn't just make the salad better.  It's good for your skin, too.  And be sure and use good salt.  It does make a difference.

Here's the promised salad picture with a side of homemade whole wheat bread...

This salad...

...is very, very good.  Try it.  Eat it.  Frequently.  That's what I'm planning to do.

I made this the other night tweaking the recipe by adding a handful of raw almonds, a handful of dried cranberries, and a can of mandarin oranges.  We all loved it. 


I have always said that I cook by color.  If I have several colors on my plate, I know the meal is healthy.  According to that theory, all I need to eat is this salad.  

Sorry I don't have a picture to show you.  I'll try and get one the next time I make it (tomorrow) before it all disappears!

Sunday dinner

Family style...

Red beans with corn and tomatoes over rice
Chili lemon chicken over veggies
Collard greens
Garlic mashed potatoes - reheated
Rosemary bread and Whole wheat/polenta/sunflower molasses bread
Apple grape salad with coconut and pecans
The rest of the raspberry cobbler

and for supper...

Popcorn!

New Year's Food

As per Southern tradition...

Black eyed peas over rice with salsa or relish

Collard greens

Corn bread

Yum!

And today, leftover turkey soup with full of tomatoes and veggies and made quite flavorful with red wine and basil served with chillaquillas - an original Laurel's Kitchen recipe I had long forgotten.  Thanks to Laura, my sister-in-law, for calling and asking for the recipe and reminding me of an old, old favorite. 

A cookbook I want to check out soon, The New Laurel's Kitchen.