MEDITERRANEAN CAPRESE SALAD

I have to tell you I am pretty excited!  Why?  I believe I have just come up with the recipe for my new favorite salad.  Salads are what I believe I do best.  I just love to use all the different combinations of fresh vegies, fruit, pastas, cheeses, meats, etc...to come up a a never ending list of recipes for new salads.  I wish there was a show on the Food Network called " Who Can Come Up With the Best Salad"....and we could just have at all the food in the pantry and fridge.  I am confident I would win (ha,ha,ha). Anyway...back to the new recipe I came up with...it is for a Mediterranean Caprese Salad.  A Caprese Salad is so simple.  You must use the best ingredients to make the salad the best; tomatoes, mozerella cheese, basil and olive oil.  Honestly, it is the most simple salad to make, but it also ranks up there as the most delicious.  I have "one upped" the basic Caprese Salad by adding a bunch of yummy Mediterranean ingredients and placing it all atop some fresh baby greens.  Honestly, I could eat this salad every day.  I served it for my son's baptism dinner along with Roasted Honey/Butter Rubbed Turkey Breast, Grilled Beef Tenderloin, Penne Pasta w/ Vodka Sauce, Prociutto and Shallots (I will post this recipe soon) and a really tasty Chickpea Salad (I will post this recipe soon as well).  You could do this salad with a really simple grilled piece of chicken, steak or porkchop and the dinner could not be beat.  I am actually going to be making it for my nieces highschool graduation party.  The main course at the graduation party is a hog roast.  Basically this salad is so good you could serve it along side of anything...it is not only tasty, but versatile as well.  Please try this recipe....I think you will find it will rank right up there as one of your favorites!

MEDITERRANEAN COUSCOUS SALAD

I don't know about you guys but when it comes summer time I get addicted to any kind of salads that I can get my hands on.  I just love using all the fresh vegies and fruit from all the farmer's markets and also using the fresh herbs that we  grow in our own garden.  Taking all the fresh ingredients and making wonderful and flavorful salads is a knack that I got from my mom.  Growing up she always put together summer meals that consisted of fresh herbs and vegies.  This week I was visiting my mom and she had a leftover couscous salad that she made for her and my dad the night before.  I had to have seconds it was so good.  I decided to re-create this salad for my husband and I.  I adapted it a bit and added some feta cheese, but all in all it basically was her "brain child".  I served my Mediterranean Couscous Salad with some Lemon Oregano Grilled Chicken and fresh green beans.  Again, this meal was a runner up for a perfect summer meal!

ANTIPASTA PASTA SALAD

Last summer my family and I were going to Indiana to visit my husbands brother and his family.  When I asked what I could bring they said they would love it if I brought an "antipasta salad".  I was not sure if that meant an antipasta appetizer of marinated vegetables or if it meant a pasta salad.  So I decided to make a pasta salad that had marinated vegetables, salami & cheese in it.  I called it my Antipasta Pasta Salad.  It turned out to be a hit.  This past week-end we visited our family in Indiana again.  I decided to make this salad since it was such a hit the first time.  The flavors and ingredients of this salad work extremely well together.  You can serve this salad along side burgers, chicken, pork or steak.

GRILLED SKIRT STEAK W/ GRILLED TUSCAN BREAD SALAD

I believe I have created  " The Perfect Summer Meal"!  This is very exciting to me.  The key to this dinner is to use very fresh ingredients.  It is a simple grilled steak served with a tuscan salad atop a slice of grilled rustic italian bread. My tuscan salad consists of a spring green mix,, fresh grape tomatoes, artichoke hearts, northern beans, kalamata olives, fresh chopped basil and mozerella cheese. It is super simple to make, but the flavors of this dish are outstanding!  I season and layer each component to this salad so that every layer comes together with the best flavors imaginable.  Whether you are making a summer meal for your family or for guests this dish is sure to please!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

Nothing says July 4th in the good ol' USA as good as a cherry pie does.  So I have "one upped" the cherry pie and have created Individual Cherry Cheesecake Cobbler Pies!  Ok...say that three times fast.  These individual desserts are to die for!  The are the perfect combination of cherry pie, cheesecake and cherry cobbler.  Place a nice big scoop of vanilla ice-cream on top and you have got a killer dessert.  I am telling you, even people who don't like dessert loved these when I made them.  To make it super simple for yourself purchase pre-made pie crust instead of making your own....that will really save you a lot of time.  Try this dessert for your 4th of July celebration...they will be the hit of the party!!!

GREEK PASTA SALAD

My neighbor and friend, Amanda, made this awesome greek pasta salad a couple week-ends ago. She sent me home with a big tupper-ware filled with some leftovers.  It was so good!  I ate it all in one day!  Every time I would go in the fridge for just one bite it would turn into two bites and then three bites...ok you get the picture...I really, really liked it!  I liked it so much that I decided to make my own version of this salad this past friday night.  It was the easiest pasta salad to make.  Just some pasta, tomatoes, cucummbers, black olives, feta cheese and some greek seasonings and you have got a great summer salad.  I served my
Greek Pasta Salad with some balsamic grilled pork chops and called it a meal!

PASTA WITH FRESH ASPARAGUS PESTO

I love asparagus, but you can only make and eat asparagus spears every so often.  I am always trying to come up with new and fun ways to incorporate asparagus into my recipes.  A few nights ago I came up with a WINNER!  Dinner consisted of a fabulous Pasta with Fresh Asparagus Pesto.  I used a whole wheat angel hair pasta, but you could use any kind of pasta.  I pureed some par-boiled asparagus spears with some fresh basil from my garden, olive oil, parmesan cheese, halved grape tomates and salt & pepper.  It was the easiest thing to make and the taste was super fresh....great summer flavor.  It was a light pasta dish that I served on the side of a lemon chicken.  I tossed in a side salad of fresh greens, artichoke hearts and black olives and we had an awesome summer meal!

SUMMER SPAGHETTI

Here at our house we absolutely love pasta.  We do however try to only make a pasta dish once a week.  When summertime comes it is always too hot to slave over a stove making a slow cooked pasta sauce.  It is also too hot to usually even think about a steaming plate of spaghetti and meatballs with sauce.  I few years back we were having my friend Kerry and her husband, Justin, over for a mid summer dinner.  I decided to make some really simple appetizers along with a grilled pork tenderloin, chopped italian salad and I knew I wanted a starch.  I came up with something I call, Summer Spaghetti.  This recipe is the perfect summer time pasta.  It is made with angel hair pasta along with some wonderful summer grape tomatoes and fresh grown basil!  You mix these ingredients along with some fresh chopped mozerella cheese and other yummy ingredients and you have got a perfect pasta dish that you can serve on a hot night!  I also make and toast my own breadcrumbs which I toss into the pasta dish ....this really adds a ton of flavor.  You serve the pasta dish room temperature.  This is perfect because you can make this dish ahead of time, cover it, set it to the side and then you can enjoy your guests and serve dinner leisurely instead of slaving over a hot stove while your guests sip their cocktails.  I cannot emphasize enough about how awesome this pasta is.  The flavors are outstanding and are even better the next day!

OLD FASHIONED MACCARONI SALAD

Usually someone who likes to cook has a certain way of cooking.  For instance I usally cook a bit more gourmet, but I would not say that I cook "fru, fru" gourmet.  I would say I love to make interesting dishes with fresh ingredients which tend to be very italian and mediterranean.  Every now and then I do however like to venture into the "good ol' home cookin' " realm.  I don't go as far as a Paula Dean...she is a great cook, but she does use a lot of butter and oil and grease in her cooking.  So I would not say I go as "good ol' " as Paula Dean, but at times I can get pretty up there on the comfort food level.  Summer cook outs is usually when I bring out the oldies, but goodies recipes such as potato salad, summer tomato salad, baked beans, brats, burgers, hotdogs and a really good maccaroni or pasta salad.  I have a million different pasta salads up my sleeves.  Most of them contain fresh vegies that are either left raw or yummily (is that a word?)...yummily grilled and added to the pasta with a lemon or vinegar based dressing.  Last  year however, I came up with a maccaroni salad that was out of this world!  I made sure I jotted down the recipe so I could make it again this year.  This past Memorial Day I made this salad.  Let me tell you it was a hit!  My Old Fashioned Maccaroni Salad goes perfect with any summer cook out and BBQ!