Quit wasting money on green onions! Next time you buy fresh green onions don’t toss the white ends. Instead stick them in water and place in a sunny window. Whenever you have a recipe that calls for green onions just snip off what you need.

or perhaps sunscreen?

the delicious salad dressing you get at japanese restaurants has always intrigued me. now i’m gonna make it!! i’m pumped that i even have all the ingredients at home already!

for the dressing you need:

1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

1 small shallot, peeled and roughly chopped

2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh ginger

2 tablespoons sweet white miso

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seed oil

1/4 cup grapeseed or another neutral oil

2 tablespoons water

and the salad:

1 small/medium head of lettuce (I used Bibb) or mixed greens of your choice

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1 avocado, quartered

source: smittenkitchen.com

Another goody from my new obsession with Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. i can do no wrong when cooking from this book! today we ate this salad with his deeeeeelicious pot roast meatloaf and some roasted crispy brussel sprouts. i outdid myself this evening if i do say so myself ;)

Ingredients:

• 4 scallions
• 1/2 cucumber
• Handful of fresh basil leaves
• 2 small avocados , just ripe
• 1 head butterhead lettuce
• Large handfuls sprouted cress or alfalfa
• 2 ounces Cheddar cheese , optional (i vote no on this one)
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Red wine vinegar
• English mustard (dijon works fine)
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Get yourself a big chopping board and a large sharp knife. It’s best to start by chopping the harder, crunchier veggies first, so trim and chop your scallions and slice your cucumber. Slice your basil. Bring it all into the center of the board and continue chopping and mixing together. Halve your avocados around the big pit. Carefully remove the pit and peel the skin off. Add the avocado flesh, lettuce leaves and cress or alfalfa to the board. Crumble over the cheese, if using, and continue chopping. When everything is well chopped, you’ll have a big mound of salad on the board. Make a well in the middle and drizzle in 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Add a teaspoon of English mustard and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Mix up so everything gets well coated and serve on the board or in a bowl. 

kinda sweet…kinda salty…a little bit crispy. if you think you hate these, you don’t. you just haven’t made them right. try this recipe and you’ll be converted.

GET:

•    1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and yellow leaves removed, slice them in half
•    3 tablespoons olive oil
•    1 teaspoon kosher salt
•    1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
2. Place trimmed Brussels sprouts, olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Seal tightly, and shake to coat. Pour onto a baking sheet, and place on center oven rack.
3. Roast in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, shaking pan every 5 to 7 minutes for even browning. Reduce heat when necessary to prevent burning. Brussels sprouts should be darkest brown when done. 

found a recipe for a delicious salad that i’m going to make to bring to a brunch tomorrow. aside from kale, you’ll need:

• Cucumber
• Grape tomatoes
• Red onion
• Raisins & goji berries 
• Walnuts 
• Hemp Seeds 
• Carrot 
• Avocado
• Red Pepper

The recipe calls for a tahini-lemon dressing:

i had the BEST salad dressing this weekend. so good in fact, that i returned to same restaurant to get take out TWICE just to have it again.

now i’m going to admit something a bit shameful….

i didn’t use up all of it so i saved the remnants in the little container and…get ready for it….drank it the next day. yup.

now before we all get too excited, i have to tell you that i only have a list of the ingredients in the this dressing, but not the proportions. so maybe we can all work together to perfect it?

GREEN DRESSING OF SHEER AND UTTER AWESOMENESS

- ginger

- garlic

- cilantro

- agave nectar

- rice vinegar

- sunflower oil

wanna know what i’ll be eating this week??

THISSSSSSS……..

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale (black kale is especially good), stalks removed and discarded, leaves thinly sliced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• Kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons honey
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 mango, diced small (about 1 cup)
• Small handful toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds), about 2 rounded tablespoons

Directions

In large serving bowl, add the kale, half of lemon juice, a drizzle of oil and a little kosher salt. Massage until the kale starts to soften and wilt, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside while you make the dressing.

In a small bowl, whisk remaining lemon juice with the honey and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Stream in the 1/4 cup of oil while whisking until a dressing forms, and you like how it tastes.

Pour the dressing over the kale, and add the mango and pepitas. Toss and serve.

thai mango salad

click pic for recipe :)

i saw this in the grocery store the other day and i was curious so i bought one. it looks like an oversize avocado and it tasted like a really crappy, mushy, watery, dull version of one. apparently it has less fat (even though it’s good fat!) and calories, but it has nothing that makes an avocado actually good. it’s equivalent to drinking a very watered down coke….blech. i don’t know why this exists.

i used to hate kale. but i’m going to be real with you …i had never really tried it. it just seemed so tough and healthy and GREEN that i assumed it must be crap. i did the whole kale chip thing and it was pretty good, but not the type of thing i would regularly prepare as a side dish. 

and today it allllllll changed.

i bought a bunch of the stuff the other day and finally bit the bullet tonight. i steamed it for about 3-4 minutes, added some olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and some salt and pepper. and i DEVOURED it. it was delicious and so easy!

i can’t believe it took me so long.

eat it.