Salads with Fruit!

(Originally posted on Friday, October 15, 2010)

Now, I'm not talking about fruit salads...I'm talking about savory salads that happen to have fruit in them.

I like my salads to have a lot of "junk" in them (by "junk," I don't mean unhealthy ingredients...I mean a LOT of ingredients--like fruits, vegetables, and nuts). A salad with simply lettuce and maybe a few tomatoes and some dressing gets a little boring for me. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a nice garden salad...but a garden salad to me is a salad that has lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, croutons, bell peppers, shredded carrots, peas, beets, and then dressing.

The first salad is a relatively new discovery and it is perfect for fall because it features some lovely fall fruits--such as apples and pears. The next salad has a yummy combination of strawberries, kiwifruits, and macadamia nuts (an old family favorite). The final salad is a spinach salad with strawberries and dill. Because of the strawberries, the last two salads are more summer friendly (unless you want to shell out the big bucks for strawberries and kiwifruits when they aren't in season!).

I must apologize that I currently only have a picture of the first salad...but as soon as I get a chance to make the other two salads again, I'll photograph them and add them to this post as well. (Which I am also doing for all of our past posts, by the way. If I didn't have a picture originally, I am adding pictures to our blog when I make the recipes again. So go back and take a look!)


Lori Cannon's Cashew Salad

Ingredients:

Salad:

3 romaine lettuce hearts, chopped
4 cups cashews
1 6-oz. bag dried cranberries
2 apples, chopped
2 pears, chopped
4 oz. Swiss cheese, cubed

Dressing:

3/4 cup canola oil (see notes)
2/3 cup sugar (see notes)
1 Tbsp red onion, finely grated
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 tsp ground mustard
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Prepare dressing the day before by combining all dressing ingredients. Combine all salad ingredients and toss with dressing immediately before serving.

Makes 12 servings.

Source: From the Worldwide Ward Cookbook by Deanna Buxton, recipe submitted by Jerrie Madison of the Winchester Hills 2nd Ward in St. George, Utah.

Notes: This makes a massive salad. But in my opinion, it makes waaaaaay more salad dressing than you will ever need. I mean, who needs 2 cups of salad dressing! I would suggest slightly decreasing the oil and sugar. I would use 1/3-1/2 cup of canola oil and 1/3 cup sugar instead. Also, I would suggest tossing the salad in batches as needed. So, for instance, if you're only going to eat 1/3 of the salad that day, reserve the other 2/3 of the salad and toss what you plan to eat with enough dressing to coat the salad nicely. Then, the rest of the salad will still be fresh enough the next day and you can just toss it with some more dressing. Seriously, this salad doesn't keep for longer than one day once the dressing is added.

Macadamia, Strawberry, and Kiwi Salad

Ingredients:

1/4 cup white grape juice concentrate
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
2 teaspoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
10 cups torn mixed salad greens
8 large fresh strawberries, quartered
1 kiwifruit, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons sliced green onion
2 tablespoons chopped macadamia nuts, toasted

Directions:

In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the first five ingredients; shake well. Refrigerate until serving. Set aside 2 tablespoons of dressing. Place the greens in a salad bowl and drizzle with remaining dressing. Top with strawberries, kiwi and onion; drizzle with reserved dressing. Sprinkle with nuts.

Yield: 8 servings

Nutrition information: One serving ( 1 1/4 cups) equals 67 calories, 3 g fat, 0 cholesterol, 165 mg sodium, 10 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 2 g protein.

Source: Taste of Home's Light and Tasty Annual Recipes 2002 cookbook (the recipe is called "Colorful Tossed Salad" in the book...which is why I always have a hard time finding it when I look for it!). Submitted by Lee Bremson, Kansas City, Missouri.

Notes: If you like more strawberries, kiwifruit, or macadamia nuts, by all means, add some more! I usually do! Also, add your own desired amount of dressing. Don't feel like you need to add it all. Or if you love a ton of dressing, double it!

Strawberry Spinach Salad
Ingredients:
8 cups torn fresh spinach or whole fresh baby spinach
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon sunflower kernels
1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
4 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons snipped fresh dill or 1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground mustard
Directions:
In a salad bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries, onion, sunflower kernels, and sesame seeds. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the remaining ingredients; shake well. Pour over salad and gently toss to coat.
Serve immediately.
Yield: 8 servings
Nutrition information: one serving (1 cup) equals 68 calories, 4 g fat, 0 cholesterol, 61 mg sodium, 7 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 1 g protein.
Source: Taste of Home's Light and Tasty Annual Recipes 2002 cookbook. Submitted by Cathy Linzbach, East Grand Forks, Minnesota.
Notes: Again, add your own desired amount of dressing.

Sweets For the Sweet!

(Originally posted on Tuesday, June 15, 2010)

Doesn't everyone just love the sweet stuff? Of course, sweet comes in many different forms. There are dessert-worthy sweets, sweet drinks, sweet snacks, candy, breakfast-type sweets, cold sweets, warm sweets, warm and cold sweets (such as warm brownies topped with ice cream), sweet-and-sour, the sweet-and-salty combination, etc. So many wonderful possibilities!

The first recipe is a beautiful and delicious icebox cheesecake topped with berries. The second recipe is a banana bread recipe that is super quick and easy due to the fact that you make it with a yellow cake mix. The final recipe is a savory watermelon recipe. I'm not going to lie, the watermelon recipe might not be everyone's cup of tea. Some people don't like to have their watermelon messed with. But I thought it was fantastic!

I hope you like them as much as we did!


Icebox Cheesecake

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 (8-oz.) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 baked Butter Cookie Crust or baked Pretzel Crust (recipes below)
4 cups assorted fresh berries, pitted cherries, or sliced fruit
1/2 cup seedless blackberry jam
1/4 cup orange liqueur or orange juice

Directions:

Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Fold in whipped topping and vanilla; spoon into prepared crust. Cover and chill 8 hours.Arrange fruit over cream cheese filling. Stir together jam and liqueur; drizzle over fruit.
Variation: Mascarpone Pie: Substitute 1 (8-oz.) container mascarpone cheese for cream cheese, 1/4 cup granulated sugar for powdered sugar, 2 cups whipped cream for whipped topping, and 1 baked Chocolate Butter Cookie Crust for Butter Cookie Crust. Prepare recipe as directed.

Butter Cookie Crust

Makes one 9-inch pie crust
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups butter cookie crumbs (about 1 1/2 [7.25-oz.] packages)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
Directions:

Stir together all ingredients; firmly press crumb mixture on bottom, up sides, and onto lip of a lightly greased 9-inch pieplate. Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack, and cool crust 1 hour or until completely cool before filling.
Note: For testing purposes, we used Pepperidge Farm Chessmen Cookies for butter cookies.

Pretzel Crust

Makes one 9-inch pie crust
Ingredients:
2 cups finely crushed pretzel sticks
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
Directions:
Stir together all ingredients; firmly press crumb mixture on bottom, up sides, and onto lip of a lightly greased 9-inch pieplate. Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack, and cool crust 1 hour or until completely cool before filling.
Source: Southern Living, JUNE 2008
Notes: I made a butter cookie crust (because I had a tin of butter cookies left over from Christmas that I wanted to use up). It was a rich and delicious pie crust. This dessert was fantastic. Oh, and I used orange juice instead of orange liqueur. However, I would change two things next time. First, I forgot to grease my pie plate before putting the crumb mixture in to form the crust. The result? It was soooo hard to get out of the pie plate. That meant that my beautiful cheesecake didn't look too pretty once it actually got served up because I had a dickens of a time getting it out in one piece (sadly only one serving actually came out in one pretty piece). Second, I put the berries on top of the cheesecake about an hour before we served it. The result? The berries got juicy and the juice ran and bled into the pretty white of the cheesecake. Instead, I would either put the berries on top right before cutting the pie, or (preferably) I would cut the cheesecake, and spoon a desired amount of berries right on top of each serving. So, at least the pie was gorgeous to begin with and it was scrumptious when we ate it (even though it could have been prettier at that point in time!). Oh, and I got a little crazy because I wanted to get rid of my cookies and I made way too many crumbs and I had enough for an extra pie crust. I also had extra whipped topping. Soooo...I made a packaged mix of banana cream pie pudding and put it in the extra crust and topped it with the extra whipped topping. It too was super yummy.


Banana Nut Bread using Yellow Cake Mix

Ingredients:

1 (18.5 oz) box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil or applesauce (your choice--it tastes great both ways)3-5 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix mashed bananas with eggs, oil or applesauce, cake mix, and nuts. Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans or a bundt pan* and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes, then move to a wire rack and cool completely.

You can creat a glaze with water or milk and powdered sugar which can be poured over the cake/bread when it has cooled completely. Do not pour the glaze over a warm cake or it will soak in.

Note: Bundt pan, bake for approzimately 45 minutes.

Source: I had a roommate about 4 years ago who made this all the time. I asked her for the recipe and she simply told me that she found it online. I did a Google search and found a number of recipes. This one was the simplest and most straight forward. It is awesome. I usually make it in a bundt pan because it looks so nice with the glaze on it. I also like to get creative with the nuts. Don't feel like you can only use pecans or walnuts. This bread is awesome with sliced almonds and chopped macadamia nuts as well.


Watermelon, Mâche, and Pecan Salad

Prep: 20 min., Bake: 7 min., Cool: 15 min. Mâche, a tender heirloom variety of lamb's lettuce, has a slightly sweet, nutty flavor, but the salad is equally good prepared with baby lettuces.

Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

3/4 cup chopped pecans
5 cups seeded and cubed watermelon
1 (6 oz) package mâche, thoroughly washed
Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette (recipe below)
1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant. Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes or until completely cool.

Combine watermelon and mâche in a large bowl; add vinaigrette, tossing gently to coat. Transfer watermelon mixture to a serving platter, and sprinkle evenly with pecans and cheese.

Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette

Prep: 10 min. This is also terrific drizzled over a summery trio of sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and onion.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup pepper jelly
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon grated onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

Whisk together first 6 ingredients. Gradually add oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking until blended.

Source: Southern Living, July 2008

Notes: We couldn't find any mâche, so we decided to completely skip this ingredient. As stated in the recipe, if you can't find this ingredient, baby lettuce works. I would also say that baby spinach would work as well. But this salad was lovely and satisfying even without the lettuce. The flavors are very complex. The combination of sweet and salty is wonderfully unique. The people who tried this recipe at our barbecue were split. They either loved it or hated it. I loved it...so it's on my blog!