CSA Week 5

I made the trek out to Forest Grove to pick up the veggies from my mom this week. Here's a photo of most of the haul:



Broccoli, 2 kinds of squash, onions, blackberries and blueberries (unbelievable head of lettuce not pictured)

I pretty much put everything together into a giant stiry fry very loosely based on another of Heidi Swanson's recipes from her beautiful book, Super Natural Cooking, which I am deeply in love with. I may have mentioned this before.

But when it came time to add the hoisin sauce, I just couldn't. So I didn't. And it turned out that the fresh mint and basil from my mom's backyard, the ginger, garlic and red pepper provided plenty of flavor and I could still taste the veggies (I find hoisin a little overpowering in vegetarian dishes).



I tried serving it with this tofu noodle thing I found at the store, which as it turns out is pretty much devoid of nutritional value but I liked the texture and taste anyway.



So far I've noticed:

The amounts have been good for two people except last week I needed help with all the lettuce because some of it did go bad the week before but probably because I accidentally bought spinach, forgetting I had lettuce coming.

There are little green worms etc. Today I threw a couple of those out my window on a piece of broccoli into the courtyard. I don't know if they can eat the plants out there but at least they have a better chance of survival than in my garbage disposal. I wonder if any of my neighbors noticed. Hee.

CSA Week 4

In week 4 mom and I met halfway at Whole Foods and sat for an hour talking and eating the Bing Cherries we got in the box. Well, mom ate half of one cherry and threw it back in the bag because she wasn't really hungry after her WF Spanikopita. I, however, ate half the bag sitting there and the other half once I got home.

I used part of the yellow squash to make a spicy chipotle frittata with spinach



I'm also excited to be using my iron skillet.

Since mom kept the kohlrabi she gave me all the squash. She likes the idea of one person keeping all of one veggie and I am more of the "split everything" camp. I just want to have a taste of everything, even if it's only a little. She'd rather maximize possibilities for each item, which I totally get.

(Jen, how did you feel about quotes in the above context? Unnecessary? OK?)

So I chopped the rest of the squash in with some roasted red pepper, cannelini beans and basil I'd preserved in olive oil.



To this, I added tuna fish and dumped it all over some of the lovely Red Tide lettuce we got in the box. Delish.

The blueberries were, of course, smoothie stuff.

CSA week 3

During week 2, I was out of town so my mom got the whole haul. For week 3, I took the summer squash and broccoli and roasted it in olive oil and balsamic vinegar with my mom's neighbor's onions then ate every day for lunch over the beautiful lettuce from the box with some cotija cheese. While I was out at my mom's, she also gave me some mint from her yard which I chopped in the cuisinart and froze in ice cubes. I pop one of these into my smoothie in the morning with some CSA rhubarb and frozen blueberries from last year that my mom gave me when I was out there. I think, honestly, that I got more from my mom this time than from the CSA! She also gave me some cilantro and basil from her yard, which perked right up when I put them in a jar of water in the fridge. The basil made its way into my salads and the cilantro made an appearance in my second attempt at the skinny omelettes in this post from the lovely 101 Cookbooks blog by Heidi Swanson. The filling is inspired by the demi-vegan crepe at Le Happy down the street - it has tofu, peanut sauce, fermented black beans and cilantro. Mine had all that except farro instead of tofu since that's what was in my fridge.



Again, I ate the snowpeas raw and did the same with one of the Kohlrabi. The other, I sauteed in olive oil with some crushed red peppers and mixed in with a salty-sweet tempeh and spinach over farro.



See how beautifully the kohlrabi is chopped up? I bought myself a Mandolin at Goodwill last week. Every time I've tried to use it I think "how could such a dangerous device be sold to the general public?" and even while thinking this thought, sliced my finger a little bit. After a bit of research, I discovered that these things are originally sold with some kind of finger guard - ahhhhh! So I'll have to work on that - I guess I could just use a towel or something to push the vegetable instead of my bare hands. Frankly, a chain mail glove seems the most sensible choice - this thing is sharp and it works so quickly you don't even realize how close it's getting to your fingers until - whoops!

What have you all been doing in week 3?

CSA Veggies/Strawberry Rhubarb Smothie

CSA Veggies
Originally uploaded by lesliegardner

First haul! Woo and HOO! This is all of everything except only half the strawberries since my mom left hers at home but brought the rest over so we could split it up together. Since I'm going on a business trip next week and don't think I'll get around to too much cooking, I'm going to eat the favas and snowpeas raw. The bok choy will be a stir fry with tempeh and the strawberries are obviously smoothie stuff. I had trouble with what to do with the rhubarb since I'm not so into the sugar. I chopped it up and threw a small handfull into my strawberry smoothie this morning and it was so good! Not bitter at all!

Approximate ingredients
1/2c rice milk
1/4c strawberries
1/8c rhubarb
1T soaked raw sunflower seeds
2T nutritional yeast
1/2c water

Farm

Farm
Originally uploaded by lesliegardner

Four out of five contributors to this blog are members of this farm's CSA program. We are all first-timers. Today we all went out for open farm day and I think I speak for us all when I say:
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!
On the hayride around the farm, every time they pointed out something else that we'd be getting in our first box next week, Jen would turn and look at me or Bec would squeal just a little bit and I would go YAY!! inside my head.
This is going to be so much fun!

Johnnycakes

Today I was going through some cookbooks my Grandma gave me last weekend. This one was full of recipes I wouldn't really consider making but then I came across this! Just yesterday I had been scouring the internet to figure out how to make a relatively healthy cornbread to go with my chili and not having great luck. Lots of white flour, sugar, bacon grease etc. But this one was exactly what I was looking for and I think they came out great. They look like little cornbread cookies and they still have whatever that thing is that makes me like cornbread.
The real title of the recipe is "Depression Johnnycakes" but that makes it sound like they are seasoned with Prozac or something though I'm sure it really has more to do with how cheap they are to make. I like them for that reason but also because I made mine with whole grain cornmeal so they're just what I wanted - relatively healthy, cornbread-esque blobs.

1C Yellow Cornmeal
1/2t baking powder
1/2t baking soda
1t salt
2/3 c buttermilk (you can sub with 2/3c milk+1t vinegar - let sit for 5 min)
2T cooking oil

Mix together dry ingredients, then stir in buttermilk and oil. If necessary, add a little more cornmeal so mixture is thick enough to hold its shape. Form into 8 mounds on oiled baking sheet and bake at 400 for 12-15 min, or until pale golden brown. Do not overbake.

Easy Vegetarian Bean Chili

I cut this out of The Oregonian recently. When I made this I violated so many of the instructions I hate to even comment on how it turned out - but, I mean, it's Chili. I'm sure if you follow the recipe it would be just as good as how I did it using 1 can of tomato sauce to make up for only having half the diced tomatos, using canned corn, skipping the food processor part, reversing the cooking vessels, omitting the sugar and adding a bunch of vegetable broth. The main reason I'm putting it here is that I'm on a "budget meal" kick while trying to re-stock my savings account with dough. I estimate this to be around $.85/serving and chili is always so good. I made Johnnycakes to go with it.

Easy Vegetarian Bean Chili

Makes 4 servings

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes 2 15-ounce cans low-sodium beans, rinsed (see note) 2 to 3 teaspoons minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce 2 teaspoons granulated sugar Salt 1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 onion, minced 3 tablespoons chili powder 2 teaspoons ground cumin 3 cloves garlic, minced 11/2 cups frozen corn, thawed 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro Ground black pepper
Pulse tomatoes and their juice in food processor until slightly chunky, about 5 pulses. Bring tomatoes, beans, chipotle chiles, sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil, covered, in large saucepan. Reduce to simmer and continue to cook. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, chili powder, cumin and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 secondsStir in tomato-bean mixture, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir in corn and cilantro and return to simmer briefly. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve. Note: You can use a combination of pinto, black and dark-red kidney beans in the chili. The texture of the pureed diced tomatoes with their juice is very important; do not substitute crushed tomatoes or tomato puree.

-- Adapted from "The Best 30-Minute Recipe"
by the editors of Cook's Illustrated

PER SERVING: calories: 330 (15% from fat); protein: 7.7 grams; total fat: 5.6 grams; saturated fat: 0.8 gram; cholesterol: 0; sodium: 794 mg; carbohydrate: 69.6 grams; dietary fiber: 19.3 grams

CSA

This year I've decided to purchase a CSA share. I'm growing more and more interested in fresh, sustainable, local, organic etc and think this is just a fantastic way of doing my part AND having to go to the store less AND bonding with my mom more often since we're going to share the share. I picked a farm near her house so she'll go pick it up every Tuesday and then at some point I'll take the Max out to Hillsboro and she'll meet me with my half. I'm seeing myself making lots of freezable soups and stuff since I assume it'll be way more food than I can eat in a week. Then in winter when the deliveries stop, I can continue to enjoy. Look at some of the great things that will be included each week! I'm SO excited!

The best recipes in the world

I checked out Mark Bittman's The Best Recipes in the World from the library and have been spattering the pages with ingredients every Sunday as I cook my lunches for the upcoming week. For the most part, I've been very impressed. The recipes are simple with easy to find ingredients and the results so far have been more than satisfactory. Since I don't want to be all copyright infringement girl, I'll just paste in a great example that is already on the website.

Chestnut Soup:

MAKES
4 SERVINGS
TIME
45 MINUTES (WITH PRE-COOKED CHESTNUTS)
This is a rich soup. Add a little splash of port just before serving to give this a bit of a kick.
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1½ pounds fresh chestnuts, boiled and peeled, or 2 cups thawed frozen or canned chestnuts, drained and rinsed (I used frozen from Trader Joe's)
1 quart beef, chicken, or vegetable stock, preferably homemade, or water
Salt and black pepper to taste
½ cup heavy cream, or more to taste

1.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the onion, and cook until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the chestnuts and stock and simmer until the chestnuts are very soft, about 30 minutes. (You can prepare the soup up to this point and let sit for a few hours or cover and refrigerate for up to a couple of days.)
2.
Cool the mixture slightly if time allows (it’s never a good idea to puree boiling hot mixtures if you can avoid it). Use a food mill, an immersion blender, or an upright blender to puree the mixture. Return the soup to the saucepan and reheat it over low heat. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cream and serve immediately.

When I made this, I tasted it before adding the cream and my socks flew off my feet! I couldn't believe that a soup using only four ingredients could be this spectacularly flavorful! Then I added the cream and it somehow became about half as tasty. So next time I'll leave it out because who needs the extra calories anyway? Frankly, most of the recipes I've tried call for more fat than I like to cook with, but that's easily adjustable.

Other dishes I've made that I will definitely make again:
Sopa de Habas (Fava bean soup) - it was similar to the chestnut soup in its heartiness and simplicity
Saag Paneer (Cheese or tofu with spinach sauce) - I made mine with tofu and it was really fantastic
Fish Tagine - I love that this can be made with a variety of different types of fish. Like many of Bittman's recipes, it's more about learning a simple technique that you can tweak to your own taste (or to the herbs, spices and vegetables you have on hand).

Turkey and Wild Mushroom Meatloaf Patties with pan gravy

Martina asked for the recipes of what we had for Christmas dinner. There were some old favorites and some relatively new things. This was the main entree.

Serves 4

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (evoo)
8 crimini (baby portobello) mushrooms, chopped
8 shiitake mushrooms, chopped (I used dried and saved the liquid from re-hydrating to use in the gravy - you could also use it in the potatoes)
1 shallot, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 & 1/3 pounds ground turkey (1 package)
3 or 4 sprigs fresh sage, chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup italian bread crumbs (I used plain)
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups chicken or turkey broth
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning (i skipped this)

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons evoo (twice around the pan). Add chopped mushrooms and shallots and season with salt and pepper. Sauté mushrooms, 5 or 6 minutes, until dark and tender. Remove from heat. Transfer mushrooms to a bowl and return pan to stovetop to preheat to cook patties.

Place turkey in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of meat. Add sage, Worcestershire, bread crumbs, and beaten egg. Scrape sauteed mushrooms and shallots into the bowl. Add salt and pepper. Mix together and make a small, 1-inch patty. Place patty in the hot pan and cook 1 minute on each side. Taste for seasonings and adjust seasonings in meatloaf mixture accordingly. Divide meatloaf mixture into 4 equal parts by scoring the meat before you form patties. Form into oval patties, 1 inch thick. Add 1 tablespoon evoo to the pan, and arrange patties in the pan. Cook 6 minutes on each side and transfer to a serving plate or individual dinner plates. Return pan to heat and add butter. When butter has melted, whisk in flour and cook a minute or two. Whisk in broth and season gravy with poultry seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. thicken gravy to your liking and pour over patties, reserving a little to pass at the table.

Editorial Comments on the Recipe.
This was from the Rachel Ray 30-Minute Meals get togethers book. More than a lot of the 30-minute meal recipes this one really pushed the envelope of what you can do in 30 minutes. Keep in mind that how it is written, while these are cooking you are also making herbed mashed potatoes and green beans with lemon and toasted almonds. I think if everything is cut up and all the prep is good - you have all of your utensils and plates and mysterious cooking implements at the ready you MIGHT be able to do this in 30 minutes. That being said, if you allow a little longer it is Well Worth It.
I have made this one other time and I did not chop the mushrooms as small as I did at Christmas. The patties did not hang together as well, but the larger mushrooms made for some nice texture contrasts. Also I would probably recommend putting the patties into a warm oven while finishing the gravy to keep everything nice and warm.

Buckwheat Noodles with Peanut Lime Sauce

IMG_0718
Originally uploaded by lesliegardner.

I got this from the FoodDay and it is just as good as it sounds! I could not find Buckwheat noodles so I used Quinoa noodles instead. Also, I omitted the sugar and didn't miss it even one iota. I bet it would be great with some chicken in there if one were so inclined!
I found this was best right after it was made. After being in the fridge, the PB gets a little pasty but maybe if it were brought to room temp again before serving it'd be heaven again.

So since I can't seem to make the link to the recipe work, I'll have to paste it in. EVS, Oregonlive! I guess my friends won't be looking at your advertisers today, now, will they?

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
21/2 tablespoons soy sauce
21/2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
11/2 inches fresh ginger, peeled, cut into chunks
3 green onions, green and white parts, roughly chopped
21/2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
11/2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup snow peas or frozen petite peas
8 ounces buckwheat noodles
1 red bell pepper, cored and cut into thin 1-inch strips
2/3 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish
1/3 cup chopped unsalted roasted peanuts
4 lime wedges

To make the sauce, puree the peanut butter, soy sauce, water, lime juice, vinegar, ginger, green onions, brown sugar and red pepper flakes in the food processor. Put the broccoli in a small pan of water and cook just until tender; add the snow peas just to warm them through. If you are using frozen peas, just drop them into the hot water with the broccoli right before draining.

Cook the noodles until al dente according to package directions; drain.

Toss the noodles with the broccoli, peas, bell pepper and cilantro, and toss with the peanut sauce. Place into bowls and garnish with the chopped peanuts, more chopped cilantro and a lime wedge.

I could be a guest on this show!

It's been a while, huh? I don't have any new recipes right now, but I did see this cooking related cartoon which would have made me snarf if I'd been trying to take a drink of something while I read it!

Avocado With Salmon Salsa

Jessica asked for this recipe. It's really phenomenal and definitely deserves its place here! I hope I'm invited to what she's making them for!

1 sm shallot, peeled and chopped
1 jalapeno chile, cored, seeded and minced (if mom comes over I only put in a little)
4 oz chopped smoked salmon (I've always used the lox kind although I just realized the recipe does not specify that)
6 cherry tomatoes, chopped
1T minced fresh cilantro
1/4t freshly ground pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon (2T)
2 small avocados, pitted and halved (the recipe says one avocado but it makes way too much filling for only two halves.
2 lemon wedges

Combine all ingredients but avocado and lemon wedges
Spoon into avocado halves and garnish with lemon wedges (I have never done that last part, myself)

These not only look cool, but they taste incredible - so rich and salty and just...mmmmmmmmm!

Red Lentil Mulligatawny with Apple-Celery Salsa

lentil mulligatawny soup
Originally uploaded by jensect.

Leslie - I'm so inspired by your soups, we went and tried a new one last night. this is from the lastest issue of Cooking Light, and it is GOOD! I am pretty sure I just used regular old lentils instead of red lentils, but it tasted pretty good anyway.

***
This rich, creamy soup will thicken as it cools. Thin with hot water, a tablespoon at a time, to the desired consistency. Lentils provide fiber, folate, and protein, as well as iron. The fresh topping adds vitamin C plus a dose of quercetin.

Salsa:

2/3 cup finely chopped Granny Smith apple
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Soup:

3 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup dried small red lentils
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups light coconut milk\
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. To prepare salsa, combine the first 4 ingredients, cover and chill

2. To prepare soup, combine broth, lentils, and onion in a Dutch oven over medium high heat (I just used my regular soup pan); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until lentils are tender. Pour half of lentil mixture in a blender; let stand 5 minutes. Process until smooth. Pour pureed lentil mixture into a bowl. Pour remaining lentil mixture into blender; process until smooth. Add coconut milk, tomato paste, ginger, cumin, and turmeric; process until smooth. Return coconut milk mixture and remaining pureed lentil mixture to pan. Cover and simmer over medium heat 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in 1 teaspoon juice, salt, and pepper. Ladle about 1 cup soup into each of 4 bowls; top each serving with 1/4 cup salsa. Yield: 4 servings.

Apple and Parsnip Soup

IMG_7346
Originally uploaded by lesliegardner.

I know, it sounds weird, but it is really good! And cheap! And vegetarian! And good for you!

1T butter
1# parsnips
1# apples (I used braeburn)
1 onion, chopped
2t curry pwd
1t cumin
1t coriander
1/2t cardamom
1 clove garlic, crushed
salt & pepper
5C homemade chicken stock or canned reduced soduim chicken broth (I made my own vegetable broth from the peeled skins of all the veggies in the soup!)
2/3C half and half (I used the fat free kind even though I don't understand how it can exist)

In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add parsnips, apples and onion. Cover and cook 7-10 min.
Add spices, garlic, salt & pepper and cook about 2 min more, stirring constantly.
Add the stock or broth, cover and simmer gently until the parsnips are tender, about 30 min.
Transfer to a blender or food processor in batches and process until smooth. If necessary, add more broth or water. Return to the same saucepan and whisk in the half and half. Heat through over low heat.
Supposed to be garnished with chives and croutons, but who can be bothered? Well, I'm sure the croutons would be a great addition, but I am a total garnish-skipper.

Mediterranean Red Lentil and Spinach Stew

IMG_7128
Originally uploaded by lesliegardner.

Wow is this good! It's really rich and kind of sweet. I keep thinking "this needs eggplant", which I'm coming to realize is because it reminds me of Martina's yummy Eggplant Caponata! I served this over Quinoa made with sauteed onions and carrots and tumeric. But not when I finally decided to take a photo.

2T ghee or clarified butter (i used olive oil)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1T minced fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced (1...yeah right!)
2t ground cumin
2t paprika
2t ground coriander
1t ground cinnamon
5C water
2C peeled & diced butternut squash
1C dried red lentils
1C diced red bell pepper
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
1 bunch fresh spinach, washed, stemmed and finely chopped
1/2 C chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 C currants or chopped, pitted dates
3T Bragg Liquid AMinos or natural soy sauce (I used like 2 T of a soy sauce substitute made with molasses and balsamic vinegar)
1t balsamic or apple cider vinegar
1-2 t salt
1/4t cayenne

with all the veggie ends I had left, I made a huge pot of vegetable broth for future soups!

Heat ghee in saucepan over med-high heat. Add onion and saute until well-browned and caramelized, about 10 min. Add ginger and garlic and saute for 2 min. stir in cumin, paprika, coriander and cinnamon. Add water, squash, lentils, red bell pepper amd celery. Simmer uncovered until lentils are tender, about 30 min.

Stir in spinach, cilantro, currants, bragg liquid aminos or soy, vinegar, salt to taste and cayenne. Simmer just long enough for spinach to wilt

Protein Bars

IMG_7045
Originally uploaded by lesliegardner.

I like to eat protien bars. My habit is to eat a little something about every 2 hours and it's great if it's something that makes me happy to eat. But the problem with the ones in the stores is that they cost like $2 a bar and most are loaded with sugar. So I invented these and I'm really happy with them!

1-1/2 C Fresh ground peanut butter
2T Agave nectar
1/2C each of
Flax seeds
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds (chopped)
Sesame seeds
toasted buckwheat
Wheat germ
2 scoops milk & egg protein powder

mix well. Smoosh into molds. Refrigerate for a while and pop out of mold.

I had pretty good luck keeping one of these in my backpack without it falling apart. The protien powder I used comes from Trader Joes, but you can probably use any kind. The mix of seeds isn't really important - this is just what I had around. If you like, you could totally add dried fruit or even chocolate chips! My goal was to reach the point where it was so full of goodies that the peanut butter was barely holding it together since the PB is so ridiculously caloric. These clock in at about 225 if you get 21 bars out of the recipe above. My molds are a little shy of 1/4 cup. The protein count is actually only about 9g, which is woefully disappointing to me so in the end, they fit the bill of small thing I like to eat but they don't pack the protien punch I had hoped for as a wannabe vegetarian with trouble digesting soy.

Update - I switched out Quinoa for toasted buckwheat - the crunch is just divine!

chicken and potato bake

Chicken and Potato Bake


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a shallow 2 quart baking dish with olive oil.

whisk together in a small bowl:

3 Tbs of balsamic vinegar
3 Tbs of olive oil
2 Large cloves of garlic minced
1 Tbs of fresh parsley chopped (I skipped this one, and it was fine)
1 Tbs of chopped fresh basil, chervil, or taragon, or 1 1/2 tsp. dried
1 Tbs fresh savory or thyme, or 1 1/2 tsp. dried

1/4 tsp. salt
ground black pepper to taste


Peel and very thinly slice 1lb of potatoes (I didn't peel them). Thinly slice one large sweet onion. (I also put a beet in there because I like how it turns everything pink - I think you could put just about any type of root vegetable in with it)

Arrange half the potatoes in the baking dish. Season well with salt and pepper. Spoon one quarter of the vinaigrette over the potato slices and spread the herbs over the potatoes as evenly as possible. Arrange the onion slices over the potatoes and top with the remaining potatoes. Season and spoon another quarter of the vinaigrette over them, again spreading the herbs out evenly.

Top the potatoes with 4 large chicken breast halves (about 4lbs) boned, but not skinned. Or, you can top the potatoes with one of those whole chickens that has been halved. Bake, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender and the chicken juices run clear when pierced in the thickest part. (aprox. 1 hour for breasts, 1.5 hours for whole chickens). It is YUM!

Broccoli Salad

Salad:
1 lb broccoli, chopped (*tastes better if you sing the Dana Carvy "Choppin' Broccoli song while you're doing this)
1/2 cup red onion
1 cup dried cranberry (raisins work too, but cranberry is more festive, if you're making this for Xmas)
5 slices crumbled bacon
1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds (optional, but highly recommended)

Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise (we used fat free & it tasted fine!)
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbs white vinegar

1. Combine salad ingredients.

2. Whisk dressing ingredients in a small bowl

3. Toss salad with dressing

*Note: Even though this tasted great when we made it, it tasted even better the next day, so it's probably a good idea to make the dressing a little ahead and let the flavors all meld together.

Roasted Figs

Even though we ate this with Christmas dinner, it was really supposed to be an appetizer. I made it from a recipe, but you really don't need one, because it's very simple to put them together. Here is what you need:

figs (as many as you think will be eaten)
blue cheese (enough so you have a small piece to go with each fig)
prociutto
honey
pepper

Cut a slit in each fig and stuff with a small piece of blue cheese. Wrap each fig in a slice of prosciutto, then place the figs on a baking sheet.

Roast figs in a 400 degree oven (a toaster oven works too) until the prosciutto melts slightly and forms a skin around thee figs (about 12-15 minutes). Transfer to a serving plate, drizzle with honey and season with freshly ground pepper.