My Chaos and Chocolate Bark

 

It has been a very busy few weeks. My household is going to grow again by one. Daughter number 1 needs to come home for some much needed healing time. Without going into detail, suffice it to say that our "little girl" needs the support that only a family can give. Sara will be with us for now till at least the end of the summer, longer if necessary. That being said, I have been busy making space for her in her old room. We don't have a huge house so after she left, we have been slowly, "oozing" our things into her room and taking over the space. Her room has become my office space and her desk became my desk. Her dresser became my linens, table cloths and napkins storag place. Her closet became hanging space for Randy's suits and dress shirts and a place to store some of my "use once and a while items". I have had to find space elsewhere for these things, and let me tell you, it has been a test for my talents. We also had to move our old queen sized bed out of her room to make room for the bed Sara is bringing home. ACK! Our youngest is thrilled because that means she gets a "big" bed for a while since it will be easier to store her single, she inherits the queen bed for the short term. I told her not to get too used to it!

Of course, changing out the beds meant that I would get a much closer view of the upheaval in our youngest's room. As with so many kids, her version of a "clean" and "organised" room is VERY different than mine. Sadly, I got to see all the bits and pieces, lost socks, and clutter stashed here, there, and everywhere.  This was oh so much more than I could bear! For those of you who know me, I don't function well with clutter in my life. Given the extent of my daughter's chaos, it was a much bigger deal than simply swapping the beds out. It was time, again, for some extreme editing and purging which is hard for Erika to do since she has acquired the pack rat gene. I figured that since the young miss will be done high school next year, now is as good as any to start the downsizing process. Right now, my living room has become the dumping zone for stuff that needs a home or needs to be yard saled or donated. If I don't get my act together before Saturday, I will be adding to the confusion with Sara's stuff... breathe; I must remember to breathe!

This picture gives me goosebumps just looking at it! I think I need some chocolate STAT!  Why chocolate? Because chocolate makes me feel better and as I found out with a little research, there apparently is some science behind why chocolate improves how we feel. Do keep in mind, the crap that Nestlé and the like churn out by the ton may have some of the benefits, but due to the mystery ingredients and high sugar content, I think I would stick to the highest quality dark chocolate (at least 70%) to treat myself. 

Chocolate makes you feel better. It contains phenylethylamine (PEA) which is the same chemical that your brain creates when you feel like you are falling in love. PEA encourages your brain to release feel good endorphins. These endorphins that are released into the brain are known to decrease levels of both stress and pain. Apparently chocolate also causes your neuro-transmitters to create serotonin and dopamine which helps calm, relax, and create feelings of well being. YES... Exactly what I need! That said, do remember that a little goes a long way and just because dark chocolate is said to have great health benefits, it's still a sometimes food and in small portions. So no, chocolate can't be a food group... sadness, but it can be a healthy treat!

Check out here, here, here, and here for some of my information search,

So now that I know dark chocolate has some health benefits, I thought I would marry up the chocolate health benefits with those of coconut oil. A WIN/WIN for sure! I got my base recipe from one of my favourite writers... Oh She Glows! She has a wonderful chocolate bark recipe on her blog and this is from where my inspiration came!

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large heavy bottomed pan, I used my cast iron, heat over a medium heat. Toast your nuts, stirring or shaking regularly to prevent burning. When they are fragrant, pour nuts onto a plate to cool. Repeat the process with the coconut. Watch it like a hawk as it will go from just a little golden to burnt in a flash. On my first attempt I used a combination of pistachios and pumpkin seeds On my second attempt I used a combination of almonds and pumpkin seeds.  I wanted to have the green contrast in my finished product.

Roughly chop the pumpkin seeds and almonds and set aside.

Chop the cranberries in to small bits, roughly each cranberry into thirds. Mix the nuts, dried cranberries and coconut together in a small bowl.

 

In a medium saucepan, melt the coconut oil, cashew butter, and maple syrup over low heat. It will look like it has separated, but not to worry.  Whisk or stir in the cocoa (or cacao) powder, until super smooth. Add a pinch of sea salt and stir well. Remove from the heat.

Stir in half of nut mixture. With a spatula, scrape the chocolate mixture onto the prepared parchment-lined and smooth out until it's about 1/4 inch thick.

 

 

Sprinkle on the remaining nuts, cranberry and coconut mixture over top of the chocolate. Place into freezer on a flat surface for about 30 minutes, until frozen solid. 

 

 

Once frozen, break apart into small pieces, about 20 or so. Store in the freezer until ready to eat. This chocolate melts quickly so don't keep it out long.

Chocolate Bark with Nuts & Dried Fruit

1/4 cup shelled pistachios*
1/4 cup raw almonds

1/4 cup dried cranberries*

1/3 cup dried  unsweetened coconut, without sulphites if you can

1/2 cup virgin coconut oil

1/2 cup natural cocoa or cacao powder, sifted 

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 tablespoon smooth cashew butter (it's what I had on hand)

Pinch of pink Himalayan salt or fine sea salt

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. 

 

In a large heavy bottomed pan, I used my cast iron, heat over a medium heat. Toast your nuts and/or seeds, stirring or shaking regularly to prevent burning. When they are fragrant, pour nuts onto a plate to cool. Repeat the process with the coconut. Watch it like a hawk as it will go from just a little golden to burnt in a flash.

 

When the coconut is a golden brown colour, immediately pour it onto a plate to cool.

 

Roughly chop the nuts and seeds and set aside.

 

Chop the cranberries in to small bits, roughly each cranberry into thirds. Mix the nuts, dried cranberries and coconut together in a small bowl.

 

In a medium saucepan, melt the coconut oil, cashew butter, and maple syrup over low heat. Whisk in the cocoa (or cacao) powder, until super smooth. Add a pinch of sea salt and stir well. Remove from the heat. 

 

Stir in half of nut mixture. 

 

With a spatula, scrape the chocolate mixture onto the prepared parchment-lined and smooth out (if necessary) until it's about 1/4 inch thick.

 

Sprinkle on the remaining nuts, cranberry and coconut mixture over top of the chocolate. Place into freezer on a flat surface for about 30 minutes, until frozen solid. 

 

Once frozen, break apart into small pieces, about 20 or so. Store in the freezer until ready to eat. This chocolate melts quickly so don't keep it out long.

 

Because I love chocolate and I wanted to give a special friend a healthier treat for her birthday, I made another batch. For this, I doubled my recipe so I could gift part of the recipe and have a little for me and my man! Sadly, I didn't have enough of the ingredients in my original recipe so I made the following substitutions with great success.

*Note On Substitutions

Instead of cranberries, I used dried cherries, and I used all pumpkin seeds instead of a pistachios/pumpkin seed mix and the bark was just as tasty. Bottom line is, I think you could use any combination of your favourite nuts, seeds and dried fruit. The possibilities are almost endless.

 

I hope you try this out and let me know how you enjoy it.

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Clean Up - Part 2 and A Gluten Free Flour Mix

In my last post, I told you about my pre-Christmas cleanup. I didn't get it all done, but we are well under way and things are looking pretty darn good. It's amazing how the fresh paint and the decluttering made things so much better!  Everything in my downstairs has a place and when I get a chance to finish up with my labeller, I will be able to actually find all the things that have new homes! Ha ha ha!  

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly time passes when one is busy with a project. November was gone in what seemed to be a blink! Before I knew it, December was here, so I had to switch gears and get back to Christmas prep, which leads me to the food portion of my Christmas clean up. 

I would like to share with you some of the things I did to make many items on my Christmas menu a little healthier while addressing special dietary requirements. I am learning that small changes in your usual recipes can make your life easier and healthier while accommodating those folks at your dinner table with special dietary needs. No one wants to make two different meals to accommodate dietary needs or exclude anyone either.

This was the second year we served an organic and pasture raised turkey. The flavour was better and we know that the bird had a better life before giving his so that we could feast.

I made my mashed potatoes dairy free by whipping them with a combination of homemade almond milk, oven roasted garlic, a generous pinch of Himalayan pink salt, freshly ground pepper and a glug of olive oil. Yep, these mashed potatoes rocked! They were flavourful, and we didn't miss the butter.

A little orange juice, orange zest, a shake of cinnamon and nutmeg were whipped into our baked sweet potatoes. We didn't miss the sugar or the cream!

My gluten free flour mix thickened the gravy instead of my usual all purpose flour.

I used a combination of fresh and frozen fruit in the jello fruit salad. I'm still working on a healthier option to replace the store bought jello, perhaps next year. Rome wasn't built in a day.

I am pleased to say, I found easy ways to do a little cleaning up on my baking. To begin with I have switched to unbleached flour and my baking is still white/neutral in colour when it needs to be. Fewer chemicals is a win! I also cut the sugar in half for my sugar cookies since we always decorate them with royal icing. I think it worked well. Now if only I could find a beautiful non-chemical green food dye and I would be over the moon!

I made half my shortbread cookies naked this year so only some had the artificially coloured cherries. The naked ones were pretty too! These were not dairy free, but I don't think ii can wrap my head around coconut flavoured shortbread if I substituted the butter for the coconut oil. I'm not even sure it would work. Thoughts? Has anyone tried?

 

I made my own candied orange and lemon peel. Not a whole lot of work with a lot of yummy bang for my buck! My homemade candied peel had no preservatives or artificial colourining and great flavour. I even used organic oranges and lemons which made them even better! I used these peels plus other goodies to fancy up my store bought mincemeat and in my Holiday Bread that we enjoy Christmas morning. 

In addition to my homemade lemon and orange peels, I used a combination of chopped dried cranberries and apricots to replace the commercially made mixed peel that were added to the raisins. Again, I decorated with a few commercially prepared red and green cherries, but at least the artificial ingredients were kept to a mini,um.  Perhaps next year I can convince my youngest that cranberries and pumpkin seeds will be a just as pretty!

 

This is the second year I have made 2 versions of Magic Cookie Bars. I make the conventional kind made with the sweetened condensed milk and a version that is gluten and dairy free. For my conventional ones. I made my own graham crackers this year... no store bought ones with mystery ingredients. I was thrilled with the results. I will definitely continue to make my own. They are SO much better...sorry Honey Maid! In order to further clean up the conventional ones, I used half sweetened and half unsweetened coconut AND my unsweetened coconut was sulphite free. These bars are very sweet and I think I could use all unsweetened coconut next year without a family uprising. 

 

I used two recipes from Oh She Glows to make my gluten free diary free magic cookie bars. For the gluten free graham crumbs, I made Gluten Free and Vegan Graham Crackers and for the magic cookie bars I used OSG recipe for the Lightened Up Magical Cookie Bars but I used the regular coconut milk instead of light coconut milk. The traditional cookie bars are on the left and the dairy and gluten free ones are on the right. Both versions were very good.

 

 

I used my gluten free flour mix in my Date and Toffee Pudding Cake this year (another recipe from Oh She Glows). Last year I used Bob's variety but all I could taste were the beans in the flour mix so I experimented this fall with my homemade mix and was pleased with the results. Keep in mind, when using my mix, the cake is better the next day because it is a little "grainy" when it is fresh. After a day in the fridge, the "graininess" disappears. Since my daughter does eat some eggs, I added an egg and reduced the almond milk by a quarter cup in the recipe which provided a more familiar texture in the end product. Don't get me wrong, the cake as it is in the original recipe is marvellous, but I am balancing the palates of those who still prefer more conventional baking. The goal for me is to be able to cook/bake something, preferably, a single dish, that will please all! I made the cake a few days ahead and stored it in the freezer. The cake and the sauce froze and thawed beautifully and both warmed up just fine too!

 

And finally, the pièce de ré·sis·tance, I made gluten free and dairy free pastry using my homemade GF Mix and a recipe from Canadian Living for the pastry. You can find the pastry recipe here - just scroll down past the filling part for the Gluten Free Apricot Fig Tarts. I substituted some of the GF flour called for with oat flour and added a scant 1/4 tsp of Xanthan gum extra to the mixing bowl when making this recipe (see below for complete instructions). It was a huge success. The recipe originally called for butter, but since I couldn't use the butter I used Crisco to keep it dairy free. Lard would work too if it isn't necessary to keep it vegetarian.

 

The pastry worked in my baby mincemeat tarts and for our Christmas morning quiche. The top picture shows my GF tarts and the bottom, my traditional ones.  BOTH were YUMMY!

 

Last but not least, our traditional smoked salmon, goat cheese and dill quiche was delightful. I was trilled that the pastry was light, tender and flakey; a HUGE success! I didn't put the cheese in part of the quiche so that those who can't eat dairy could enjoy the quiche too - another successful example of one dish to serve everyone at my table!

I would like to leave you with the recipe for my Gluten Free Flour Mix. I have been experimenting with it over the past year and have successfully used it in a few muffin recipes, date squares, in my date pudding cake (by Oh She Glows), in pastry (by Canadian Living), in fruit crisp topping, and as a thickening agent. Keep in mind that I like to add a some homemade oat flour into the recipes I use it in (except when it's a thickens agent). I do this for the same reason I sneak a little whole wheat flour into my conventional baking... just to add a little nutrition. For example, in a recipe for raspberry muffins I use, the recipe calls for 2 cups of AP flour. I use 1 cup of the mix and 1 cup of oat flour and the muffins are as good as the original recipe with all regular AP flour. For my gluten free pastry, I used 1/3 cup oat flour with 1 cup of the GF flour mix and a healthy pinch of Xanthan gum. Trial and error is the way I figure out exactly how much oat flour can be added without messing up the end product. Personally, I wouldn't use more than half oat flour in any recipe with the GF mix because I think the end product might end up too heavy with an unappealing texture. I have yet to try this mix in a cake or cupcake recipe. I would love to hear about recipes in which you successfully use this mix. 

 

Gluten Free Flour Mix

 

2 cups brown rice flour

1 cup white rice flour

3/4 cup potato starch

3/4 cup tapioca starch

3 tsp Xanthan gum

 

1. Spoon the various flours into the measuring cup and then level off with a knife. This ensures that you were not packing the flour when you measure.
2. Put all ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
3. With the wire whisk, whisk all ingredients thoroughly to make sure you have a homogeneous mixture.
4. Store this in a sealed container in a cool place.

**I have used this flour mix for muffins, fruit crisp toppings, and date squares. When I use it in the previously mentioned items, I usually take a look at the original AP flour requirements in the recipe and then use HALF GF flour and HALF oat flour.

**I have  tried this GF flour mixture in pastry using a Canadian Living recipe with great success. I did add 1/3 cup oat flour to 1 cup GF mix and a scant 1/4 tsp more of xanthan gum. I have yet to test with a cake recipe.

**I have used this flour mix successfully for thickening gravy and making béchamel sauce (cream sauce) with NO oat flour; wherever AP flour is called for as a thickening agent.

Back After A Year Long Hiatus

Today is my first day back at blogging.  I haven't written for well over a year and it isn't because I don't enjoy doing it.  Sadly, life got busy, I took on a temporary job, I struggled with some difficulties and, in a nutshell, I just couldn't find the time. Today I have some time, or rather, I have decided take some to blog despite the fact that my house is upside down and there are a number of things I really should be doing. So, today I am sitting at my keyboard and making an attempt to write, proof, and post something worth sharing.  Wish me luck!

Just to catch you up, I have been busy practicing my passions... cooking and eating.  I have been working on my "eat more plant based journey" and have dabbled in a variety of food choices including "raw", "dairy free", and gluten free".  I have embraced the green smoothie as an almost daily breakfast of champions; I have been buying fewer made for me products like salad dressings, granola, and jams, opting to make them in my own kitchen from scratch (or as close to scratch) as possible.  I have tried a variety of meatless dishes that have incorporated more lentils and beans and have been met with a less than thrilled family... <sigh> BUT on a happier note, I have managed to re-create much healthier versions of my "traditional" desserts using less conventional/traditional ingredients (shhhhhhhh) with great success and cutting down on our refined sugar intake!  I am still working on my ever present task of "hidden healthy" to help my family eat better, even if unknowing.  I am also lucky to have sourced out cleaner and more ethically raised chicken, turkey and pork.  Hopefully soon, I will be able to find some grass fed beef and then I can feel better about eating meat when that is on our family meal menus.

I have spent much time perusing other wonderful food blogs such as Oh She Glows, Joyous Health, Pure Ella, The First Mess, and My New Roots, just to name a few.  I have spent a great deal of time reading about these ladies and have been busily getting to know them through the stories, food and recipes they share; not to mention salivating over the gorgeous pictures they post. YUM-YUM-YUM!  Food blogs like these provide me with great inspiration and help me to learn about a whole new way of cooking and eating.

I still regularly visit the more traditional food web sites like Canadian Living and Chef Michael when I am looking for particular recipe. Sometimes I make the recipes as written, while other times, I tinker with them subbing out some ingredients for healthier options or because of dietary requirements... just to practice. As a side note, I do find it interesting that even the more traditional cooking sites like Canadian Living and Chef Michael are providing recipes using less typical ingredients and even providing wonderful food for those with specialized dietary requirements (gluten free, dairy free, vegan, etcetera). At the end of the day, I do find one common thread within the pages of all that I have been reading and that is to use REAL food, fewer or no "made for you" ingredients, and to enjoy whatever it is you create.  With that said, I would like to share a few of my successes in the year of my hiatus.

Vegetarian Pizza

My vegetarian pizza made with a homemade whole wheat crust, my marinara sauce lovingly topped with diced bell peppers (organic only please), sliced mushrooms and zucchini, kale, sliced tomatoes and a few handfuls of mozzarella cheese. This pizza is perfect for our Friday pizza and a movie family night!

Beet Borcht

My beet borcht by Canadian Living.  A hot and hearty soup for dinner.  Topped with a healthy dollop of organic yogurt for a vegetarian option OR how about some Vegan Sour Cream by Oh She Glows?  Who could not love this soup with it's gorgeous crimson colour and the sweet and tart flavours? 

Macaroni & Cheese

Who would have thought to add butternut squash mac 'n cheese? Canadian Living, that's who! I was inspired by their recipe and decided to give my Mom's classic recipe an update and apply some hidden healthy. I opted to play with my Mom's recipe because it used real cheddar cheese instead of a cheese product. You can blitz the sauce with your immersion or regular blender and you will end up with a gorgeous cheese sauce and not a single sign of a vegetable. Can you see any squash? My family couldn't either. this mac & cheese was cheesy, comforting and creamy... just like my mom's traditional recip! I am still tweaking this recipe and will share it once it is perfected! 

Going forward, I hope to continue with some regular blogging. I miss the creative outlet! So until I come back, please check out some of my favourite foodie sites. Do try some of their recipes, but most importantly, cook for you and your family. Eat REAL food, lovingly prepared by YOU and feel better!

   

 
   

Gazpacho - A Lovely Summer Soup

When I was younger, my mom found this wonderful recipe for Gazpacho and we made it regularly during the summer. I LOVE this soup. It is a wonderful, cold soup - perfect for those hot days when you don't feel like heating up your kitchen. It is refreshing, light and full of all kinds of healthy! Serve it as an appetizer or as a light meal with a whole grain pita and a bean salad. YUM! All you need is a good knife, a peeler, a blender and a fridge. Sadly, our family recipe went missing so I set out to re-create the recipe of my childhood. I believe I have succeeded!

Start by preparing your veggies.  Peel your cucumber, halve and clean out the ribs and seeds from your peppers, trim your green onions and celery. Chop everything in a medium dice.

Throw the chopped vegetables into the blender. Add 3 cups of the tomato juice to start.

Peel and mince the garlic clove. Measure out your olive oil, red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper. Add it to your blender.

Blitz everything until a uniform soup results. Depending on the size of your blender, you may have to do this in two batches. Transfer the gazpacho to a container to store in the refrigerator.  I prefer glass, but that's just me. Use whatever container you have on hand.  Add more tomato juice as necessary to get the soup consistency you enjoy. You can add the additional tomato juice to the soup in your storage container and shake or whisk it in. I like my gazpacho to be fairly "fluidic" so I have used as much as 5 cups of tomato juice, but I always start at 3 cups and add a little more at a time to get the best consistency. I like to chill this soup at least 3 hours or over night to let the flavours combine. The soup keeps well for several days too, so you can snack on the left overs.  I even found out that I could pour it into single servings (not the added veggies though - add those at serving time) and freeze the soup. Once thawed in the fridge, the gazpacho is as tasty as

 freshh! Who knew?

At serving time, finely dice the remaining cucumber, red and green peppers and a medium tomato of your choice. 

Pour the soup into your serving bowls and sprinkle the finely diced veggies into each of the bowls evenly. If you like, you can add one extra drizzle of olive oil too.



Gazpacho

A wonderful summer soup, refreshing yet substantial. This recipe serves 6-8 people.

---

Ingredients

• 1 can of Roma tomatoes – 796 mL (in season Roma tomatoes , 5 or so fresh, skinned and seeded, could be substituted)   
• 1 sweet red pepper, halved and seeded                                    
• 1 green pepper, halved and seeded
• 1 stalk celery
• 2 green onions, green and white parts
• 1 English cucumber, peeled and cut in half
• 1 good sized garlic clove, minced
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil
• 3 to 4 cups tomato juice (approximately)
• 1 generous pinch or 2 of a good quality salt                                    
• A few grinds of pepper
• 1 medium tomato (garnish)

---

Instructions

• Reserve the other halves of the red, and green peppers, and cucumber for garnish at serving time.
• Roughly chop the cucumber, red and green peppers and green onions.
• Finely dice the celery.
• Add all chopped veggies, canned tomatoes, 2 cups of tomato juice, vinegar, oil, garlic, salt and pepper to the blender. Blend on high. Do in 2 batches if necessary.
• Pour the soup into a large pitcher. Check the consistency of the soup, Add the remainder of the tomato juice, more if required; stir well and chill for several hours – minimally 3 hours, but preferably over night so the garlic mellows a bit!

---

Serving

• Finely dice the reserved red and green peppers, cucumber and the tomato.
• Pour the soup into bowls, sprinkle with a generous serving of diced veggies.
• If you want, you can drink this soup as a quick snack, simply by pouring just the soup into a tall glass. Such a speedy way to get a whole bunch of goodness. Who needs V-8?

Father's Day Dinner - Salads - Part 2

Of course we can't just have meat for Father's Day! What goes better with ribs than a potato salad and a cabbage and apple salad? The nice thing about both of these salads is they are make ahead. Perfect sides for entertaining because you can make them in advance! The other nice thing about salads is they make it easy to include MORE veggies into our daily meals. As an aside,  some folks might find having 2 "creamy" salads on the same dinner plate is a bit of overkill, but since my goal was to use up things in my fridge and take advantage of what was in season, slightly mis-matched meals happen. If I hadn't had a craving for potato salad, I might have been inclined to cook the baby potatoes and serve them with a little butter and chopped parsley to avoid "creamy dressing monotony". No one complained though, and the plates were empty, so I guess I'm golden!

 

Our local farmer's market has been on the go since May and I have been going every Saturday to take advantage of our local and fresh produce. Randy laughs at how excited I get over a bag of mixed greens... please go easy on the arugula Bea (FYI, for my taste buds, a LITTLE arugula goes a long way)!  Fortunately for me, my favourite vendor, provides us with a heads up on Facebook as to what goodies are going to be at the market on Saturday. This helps a lot with meal planning. I always shop the farmers market first, before going to the grocery store just in case they are out of some of the items I was planning to get. 

For my local Quinte West readers, I strongly urge you to visit Bea and Dan at the market. You can't go wrong with fresh, tasty and CHEMICAL FREE produce! Please visit their web site -->  Natural Themes Farms - Produce  And just in case you are interested, these folks also have a variety of indigenous plantings for your garden --> Natural Themes Farms - Native Plants  ... a well deserved shout because of the eco-holic in me!

 

 

This past Saturday, I was able to procure some beautiful baby potatoes, green onions, carrots, and spinach. The spinach was earmarked for breakfast smoothies and some side salads through the week; the carrots and the rest of the veggies for our Fathers Day feast, (oh, and the carrot tops ended up in a pesto for the carrot soup I made)! The baby potatoes and the green onions definitely rocked our potato salad and the carrots were great along side of the shredded green and purple cabbage (already in my fridge) in my supercharged cabbage and apple salad.

 

The following dressing recipe for the potato salad is actually a salad dressing I have been making as a substitute for the store bought variety which I no longer buy.  Now that I have fine tuned the seasoning, Erika doesn't mind it as much and has finally accepted the fact that Kraft Ranch Dressing will no longer be found in our fridge. My recipe is quite mild in flavour as I was mimicking the store bought version. 

If you would like a more flavourful dressing for your tossed green salads, feel free to increase the quantities to 1/4 tsp for the onion powder and the garlic powder; 3/4 tsp parsley and 3/4 tsp dill (fresh or fresh-frozen). Keep in mind, no matter which seasoning proportions you choose, the flavours will take at least 2-3 hours in the fridge to develop and intensify. I like to make my dressing the day before for best results. 

Since I already had a batch of my Ranch-like dressing in the refrigerator, I used it for dressing the potato salad. The only catch is, I had already used it some of it for salads and then I didn't measure how much was actually left before I poured it into the potato salad... DUH! If I had to GUESS, it was a little more than 1/2 a cup. Given this conundrum, I am providing you with the full recipe for my dressing. If you have any leftovers after dressing your potato salad, I strongly urge you to try it on your favourite mixed green salad! You might just be able to give up store bought Ranch dressing too.

Potato Salad

Serves 4-6

1.5  quarts of baby potatoes, mine were red skinned, purple and white 

3 eggs, hard cooked from happy chickens

4 green onions, whites finely chopped, greens thinly, sliced

3 stalks celery, finely diced

1/2 lime, juiced thoroughly

1/2 tsp salt, a few grinds of pepper

Dressing

(Make ahead 2 hours or the day before is recommended)

1 cup organic yogurt

1/2 cup mayonaise

2 pinches of salt

1/8 tsp onion powder

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 heaped tsp dried parsley (fresh is you have it)

1/2 tsp dill (I had some fresh stuff in the freezer) If using dried, I would start off with 1/4 tsp or so, and after about an hour, check for flavour. I find dried herbs can be more intense in flavouring than fresh. You can always add more, it's hard to take it out!

Cook the potatoes in lightly salted water, until just tender. The time will depend on the size of your potatoes... but 6-10 minutes should do the trick.

Drain, and cool quickly in an ice bath. Drain again and pour out onto a cookie sheet lined with a tea towel. I like to make sure that there is no extra moisture on the potatoes.

Hard cook the eggs and let cool.

Peel the eggs, place them in a large mixing bowl and then mash with a fork. Make sure the egg white in small bits.

Add the baby potatoes to the eggs. For the small ones, cut them in half; for the ones that are bigger then single bite-size, cut them in quarters. Toss the eggs and potatoes. 

Add the salt, pepper, diced celery and green onions. Toss again to evenly distribute everything.

Add a 1/2 cup of the dressing and the juice of the lime, gently combine. If your salad still looks a little dry, add a few tablespoons more of the dressing and stir. Repeat as required until you get desired consistency... just make sure your salad is not drowning in the dressing, unless you like it that way of course! 

Scrape your salad into a sealed container and let stand in the refrigerator for at least two hours. You will want the dressing and potatoes to be very well acquainted and the salad nice and cold at serving time. 

Now on to my cabbage and apple salad (on steroids)... I assume it's a hit at every potluck I attend because I come home with an empty bowl!

OOPS! I forgot the garnish for the picture.

Cabbage and Apple Salad - Supercharged
Serves 6-8

***For shredding the cabbage, I like to use my knife, but feel free to use your food processor.  I use my box grater with the course shred size for the carrots.***

3 cups red cabbage, shredded
1/3 medium head green cabbage, shredded
3 medium carrots, grated
3 large leaves curly kale, stemmed and sliced chiffonade style (in RIBBONS)
3 tart/sweet apples like McIntosh or Empire, chopped with skins on.
1 cup dried cranberries

Dressing
1 cup organic yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1-2 tsp maple syrup (optional)
2 pinches salt

Garnish
3/4 cup toasted walnut pieces or
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds or
a combination of both

Combine the shredded green cabbage, carrots, and cranberries together in a large bowl. Put back into a large Ziploc bag or large sealed storage container.  This allows the cranberries to plump up with the moisture from the veggies. Store the shredded red cabbage separately, otherwise it will turn the salad pink.

About an hour before serving time, you can take the cabbage mix and red cabbage out of the fridge and combine together. Add in the chiffonade kale and chopped apple. 

 

This salad is SO pretty

Starting with about half of the dressing, pour into the salad and stir till combined.  Continue adding the dressing until the salad is well coated but not drowning.  Put back into the fridge to stay cold.

At serving time, sprinkle salad with the nuts/seeds for a garnish.  If there are nut and seed allergies, leave them out of the salad, put them on the table and let guests sprinkle there own garnishes themselves.

Yes, it was a super tasty Father's Day dinner. There was no family mutiny, I ended up with leftovers, and it was a nice family dinner. Randy's mom joined us too!