Two More Recipes

Here are two more recipes that I promised to share months ago...but I'm just now getting around to it. Anyway, they're both pretty tasty and pretty easy, too. Plus, they're good warm-weather meals. Even though summer "officially" ended over the weekend; temperatures are still hovering near the nineties. So any meal that can be prepared with a minimal amount of heat is a big winner in my book these days.

Summer Strawberry Salad

Ingredients:

Baby Spinach

Romaine Lettuce

(I usually just do one bag each, and I'm done) But if you prefer to cut your own, it's about one bunch of spinach, and one head of Romaine.

1 granny smith apple, chopped

1 red apple, chopped

1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Dressing:

Add right before serving.

2 Tbsp. lemon zest

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 tsp. mustard seed

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup oil (vegetable, olive, or canola)

Mix all dressing ingredients together and toss with salad right before serving. Top with 1/2 cup sliced toffee almonds.

Asian Pasta Salad

1 lb. Pad Thai noodles or Linguine

12 green onions, cut on angle

1 large red pepper cut, cleaned, julienned

1 large carrot, peeled, julienned

1 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup sugar

Cook noodles until al dente. Rinse with cold water to shock. To caramelize almonds, put sugar in pan on medium heat with almonds on top of sugar. Heat until sugar melts then stir sugar and almonds together. Remove from heat and spread on waxed paper to cool.

Dressing:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. ginger

2 Tbsp. rice vinegar

2 Tbsp. sesame oil

Whisk until mixed.

Combine dressing with vegetables and almonds and toss with noodles. Garnish with green onions.

So I should have shared these recipes at the beginning of the summer. Better late than never, right? Have a great Wednesday. Today's the first day of preschool. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't cry harder than he does. :)