I am a tad obsessed with the Pioneer Woman! My mom just got the cookbook for her birthday and everyone at the party stared at me when I started screaming. I haven't had a chance to peruse the book yet, but I am a huge fan of everything on her web site and her hysterical comments throughout the recipes. While Ree is channeling Lucille, Vivien and Ethel, I'm channeling her!
I was recently searching through Ree's web site for a picnic friendly recipe to make for my friend Sarah and me to take to see my boyfriend's outdoor theatre production. (It was Smoke and the Mountain and he and the entire cast did a wonderful job! ;) I found this lovely layered salad recipe and it was perfect! I have always loved a green pea salad and we often make a similar version around the holidays. This recipe is a great mix of healthy greens and some yummy fatty bacon and cheese! If a recipe includes bacon and cheese, I'm sold! I added just a tad Hidden Valley powdered ranch dressing mix and some fresh dill to the mayo and sour cream mixture. I was also extremely pleased with my smart self when it (Ding! Lightbulb!) dawned on me to make the salads in individual bowls for Sarah and myself. Because it was in a smaller container, however, the dressing was a bit overpowering. If I do that again for a picnic I would prefer just a dollop of the dressing on top and not a full layer.
As my boyfriend's show ran for two weekends, I had to come up with yet another picnic friendly recipe. I had lots of fresh dill and some lemons so I came up with my own recipe! I really just dumped stuff in a bowl and kept adding and tweaking it, but here is my estimation on the measurements for the recipe. Ok, so its not very accurate. I promise I'll do better next time!
Lemon-Dill Dressing
- 1/3 cup (possibly, maybe? How about just a couple of good glugs) of good extra virgin olive oil
- juice of half a lemon plus some lemon zest
- splash of pinot grigio (or any white wine you may have)
- tablespoon (ish) of dijon mustard
- lots of fresh dill
- tad of honey
- pinch or two (or three) of sugar
- kosher salt (I like a lot of salt)
- white pepper (I'm obsessed with white pepper, don't ask me why. I can't explain it.)
Cook about 3 cups of fusilli pasta in some heavily salted water. (I added some pink food coloring because I'm silly like that.) When the pasta is done, drain in a colander and add some fresh spinach immediately. The spinach will wilt a bit and I like it like that.
When pasta is cooled, add whatever additional fresh veggies you like. I used some colorful red and yellow grape tomatoes sliced in half, cucumber diced very small and some minced shallot. Then pour on your dressing and eat it all up!
It is a very light and refreshing dish so you don't have to feel the least bit guilty. I served it with some bagel chips and a manchego cheese, which my boyfriend said was too overpowering for the salad. I personally liked it, so there!
Both of these salads were lovely, but you will just have to take my word for it as I didn't take a picture. Here is a picture of the Caprese salad I made for my Mom's birthday party yesterday. This was so easy it was scary! I still had some of those beautiful little yellow and red 'maters so I sliced the larger ones in half and the teensy tiny ones I just dumped right into the bowl. Then I added fresh basil and mozzarella balls. I doused it all in some olive oil, kosher salt and both white and black pepper. It was delish!
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| Caprese Salad |
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