If I’m being perfectly honest, these are deadly.
Not like the “I filled yours with poison” kind of deadly, but rather the “you probably shouldn’t make three test batches of these if you have to be in your bathing suit on a Mexican beach in a week” kind of deadly.
Oh, the things I use this blog as an excuse for.
My mom is definitely shaking her head at me right now.
So yes, this is how I’ve been balancing out my salads lately.
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I figured I would give you a break from Saladfest 2013 (a.k.a. this blog last week) to bring you this meyer lemon curd.
I’m pretty sure we will return to Saladfest later in the week, though, because I am going to Mexico in just 10 days (!!!) and, well, yeah… I’d be lying if I said the whole food blogging thing has been good for my waistline.
But it can’t all be salads, especially because lemon curd would not go very well on a salad. That’s my prediction, at least. Feel free to prove me wrong.
Have you ever had lemon curd? I hadn’t before I made it for the first time. It is a lemony spread with the consistency of a very light pudding. Like a lemon jam, but less overwhelmingly lemon than I imagine that would be. It’s like a little bite of sunshine! Don’t be scared off by the “curd” in the name – not really sure what that’s about, but nothing is curdled here. Just sweet, lemony, (uncurdled) sunshine. Perfect for days when it’s supposed to be spring, but is cold and rainy instead.
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Hello, beautiful.
You should know that I’ve been wanting to post about this salad for a looong time. Ever since I started this blog, in fact. It’s a copycat of my favorite salad at (probably) my favorite restaurant in Salt Lake, Caffe Niche. But every time I’ve made it, it hasn’t quite lived up to the restaurant version, and I had to get it juuust right. But I think I finally did!
Warm red quinoa, roasted tomatoes and onions, and lemon dressing served over a bed of arugula. It is just as good as it sounds – the nutty flavor of the quinoa, the sweetness of the roasted vegetables, and the bite of the lemon and arugula all combine to make my perfect salad.
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Thank you for all your sweet birthday wishes yesterday! It means so much. I had a great birthday, and I even got to eat one of the cupcakes leftover from yesterday’s blog post. I love it when the leftovers stick around that long!
Sometimes, like yesterday, I like to eat a cupcake… or two. And sometimes, especially after two weeks of experimenting with cupcake recipes, I like to eat a salad.
Then, because I ate a salad, I can totally justify a cupcake. I love the way that works.
So here is this week’s salad, which might be one of my all-time favorites. And that’s a good thing, because I have a lot of cupcakes to make up for earn!
This salad is a combination of all my favorite salad-y things. Red cabbage, which is randomly (but truly) one of my favorite foods. Quinoa and spelt, which are not only some more of my favorite foods, but make this salad much heartier than it would otherwise be. And then edamame, carrots, green onions, and pepitas for more protein, sweetness, flavor and crunch. Not to mention the the light and lemony dressing, which adds the perfect zing.
What could be better than all your favorite healthy foods stacked together in a cute and portable jar?
Not much, I’ll tell you that. In fact, when you taste it, you just might start yelling, OH MY GOD, DOUBLE RAINBOW!
Sorry for that reference. I know it’s so 2010. I just couldn’t resist.
This salad makes the absolute best leftovers (as long as you keep the dressing separate), which is key in my life. I’ve been eating it for lunch all week!
All the ingredients are very sturdy, which also means the salad is super crunchy. (Spelt and red cabbage will do that.) So I may have even liked it best on day 3 or 4, when it was a bit easier on the jaw. (To make it less crunchy, you can put the red cabbage in a strainer and pour a pot of boiling water over it. This will soften it up a bit, but I didn’t bother.)
Enjoy this salad and have a fantastic weekend!
Can you believe it’s March?
I’ve started off every month for the past… oh, year or so, with that same question. I think it’s a sign I’m getting old.
But this month, unlike every month in the fall when I know that another month means even colder weather, I’m happy it’s March. March means that, although everything may still be snow-covered, a few warm days will be tossed in here and there. It’s actually been over 50 the past few days! (Don’t be too alarmed; there’s a chance of snow today… now THAT is March for you.) I always look forward to the warm weather because it means summer produce. Strawberries, tomatoes, basil, peaches… and other things that I have probably forgotten about because I haven’t seen them in so long.
But this year, I kind of started to panic when I realized spring was coming. I haven’t cooked enough winter food yet! Blogging will do that to you. I need more time for soup!
So that was the impetus behind this soup. That, and wanting to make something creative with tahini while Nate was out of town this weekend because, as you may remember, he does not like tahini. So I made a soup and put tahini in the broth. It’s yummy, and satisfied my soup craving so that I can finally make peace with winter.
The main flavor of this soup comes from the butternut squash, making it slightly sweet. The broth is also spiced; I used coriander, turmeric, and thyme, but you could play around with those. And when it comes down to it, I think the tahini is actually optional (for all you tahini haters out there… I don’t understand you).
I love that this soup is chock full of veggies and flavor. Warming, filling, yummy-tasting… all my favorite qualities in an end-of-winter soup.
