Farm Salad

From: Zinburger Restaurant

*Our family ate out the other night at Zinburger.  We ordered this salad and loved it.  My daughter found the recipe online.  It takes work chopping up the ingredients, but it is worth it!

Ingredients:
Spring mix (finely chopped, portioned 1ounce each) 1 each (I bought the spring mix in a bag at Trader joe's and used half of the bag)
Cooked Red quinoa 1/3 cup
Garbanzo beans (rinsed and drained) 1/3 cup (I added double this amount)
red radish (diced small) 1/4 cup
carrots (peeled and diced small) 1/4 cup
cucumber (peeled, seeded, and diced small) 1/4 cup
tomatoes (seeded, diced small) 1/4 cup
green cabbage (diced small) 2-3 ounces (I bought the grated cabbage in a bag at Trader Joe's.  I just used half the bag)
Avocado (diced small) 1/2 avocado (I used the whole thing)
chives (minced) 1 tsp (Since I had to buy a container of fresh chives, I used about triple this amount)
champagne vinaigrette 2 ounces
kosher salt 2 pinch
ground black pepper 2 pinch

Dressing:

Champagne Vinegar 32 oz
Granulated Sugar 11 oz
Blended Oil 64 oz
Honey 7 oz
Dijon 7 oz
Kosher Salt 2.5 oz
Fresh Ground Pepper .5 tsp

Blend ingredients together.

Toss all the ingredients together for the salad and then toss with the dressing.  If you aren't eating all the salad that night, only toss what you are eating.  The salad stays good for the next day if you leave off the dressing

Quinoa Wilted Spinach Salad

By: Taste of Home

*This is a great salad!  I served it as a side dish and everyone loved it.  My daughter is taking the left overs to school tomorrow so that is always a good sign that it is a hit!  I did make some changes....I do that a lot! :)

Ingredients:
-2 cups water
-1 cup quinoa
-1 package (6ounces) fresh baby spinach, torn (I used about 18 ounces since I love spinach.  I chopped
  it into small pieces)
-1/2 cup dried cranberries

Dressing Ingredients:
-3 tbsp olive oil
-2 tbsp orange juice
-1 tbsp maple syrup
-1 tbsp red wine vinegar
-1 garlic clove minced
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/8 tsp pepper
-1 green onion finely chopped (we love green onions so I used the entire bunch)
-1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted (I used 1 cup and I bought unsalted dry toasted pecan pieces at Trader
  Joe's so that saved me time)

Directions:

-In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil.  Add quinoa.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 12-15 min until water is absorbed.  Remove from the heat; fluff with a fork.

-In a large bowl, combine the warm quinoa, spinach and cranberries.  Stir until the spinach wilts.  For dressing, in a small bowl, whisk the oil, orange juice, vinegar, maple syrup, garlic, salt and pepper.  Stir in onion.  Pour over quinoa mixture; toss to coat.  Sprinkle with pecans.

Israeli Couscous with pine nuts and parsley

**This is a DELICIOUS side dish!  I thought it sounded weird since it had a cinnamon stick in it, but it was great!  The whole family loved it.  It made enough to serve a hungry family of 5!  I used the pearl couscous (you can buy it for less at Trader Joe's).

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp butter, divided (I didn't use butter since I don't eat butter...I substituted olive oil instead)
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup shallots, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous
1/2 large cinnamon stick
1 fresh or dried bay leaf (I used dry)
1 3/4 cups chicken broth (I used vegetable broth since I don't eat meat)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup parsley, minced
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup raisins, optional (I used golden raisins from Trader Joe's.  I loved the raisins in it!)
black pepper, to taste

Melt 1 tbsp butter in a large saucepan (I used no butter/oil. I dry toasted them) over medium-low heat.  Add pine nuts and stir until golden brown.  Transfer to a small bowl.

Melt remaining 2 tbsp butter (I used 1 tsp olive oil) in the same pan over medium heat.  Add shallots and sauté until golden.  Add couscous, cinnamon and bay leaf, and stir often until couscous browns slightly.  Add broth and salt and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until liquid
is absorbed and couscous is tender.  Remove from heat and stir in parsley, pine nuts and lemon zest.  Add the raisins and season with black pepper.

Grilled Veggie Shish Kabobs

From: Food.com

This is an easy and delicious marinade for veggies!  My whole family loved it!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup light soy sauce
3/4 cup olive oil (I used less since I try to avoid oils)
1/8 cup worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp dry mustard
2 tsp salt
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp ground pepper
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup pineapple juice

Veggies:
12 cherry tomatoes
12 slices Japanese eggplants
12 mushrooms
12 small onions
2 yellow peppers, cut in 1" squares
12 slices yellow squash
12 slices zucchini
12 fresh pineapple chunks

Directions:
1. Marinade:  Blend all ingredients together in blender for 1/2 minute
2. Pour marinade in ziploc bag with all ingredients and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or overnight)
3. Arrange veggies on skewers, grill on medium high heat turning a brushing with marinade until done

**This made at 5 skewers but only 1 was left by the time I took the picture!