Strawberry Spinach Salad with Walnut Crunch

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Let’s face facts. It’s hard to find something new by way of a green salad. We’ve all had various combinations of salad greens tossed with various combinations of vegetables and fruits. What makes a salad different and special is that little extra something, as in this case with the walnut crunch. It takes your already tasty fresh salad over the top, changing it from every day, to a special day. 

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Walnut Crunch

Fresh baby spinach
Fresh strawberries, cleaned, hulled, and quartered
Walnut Crunch (recipe below)
Raspberry Vinaigrette (recipe below)

To make walnut crunch:

1 large egg white, room temperature
¼ c. packed dark brown sugar

½ t. espresso powder
Pinch of kosher salt
1 c. walnut pieces, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 325° F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper; set aside. You can also line your pan with foil, and spray the foil with PAM.

Whisk egg white with sugar, espresso powder, and salt in a medium bowl until blended. Fold in walnuts until coated. Spread mixture into your prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until dry to the touch. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Lift with metal spatula and break into pieces. Store in an airtight container on the counter. Keeps for 10 to 14 days.

Raspberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

¼ c. canola oil
¼ c. raspberry balsamic vinegar
3 T. granulated sugar
1 t. Dijon mustard
Pinch of salt
Few gratings freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of dried oregano

Method #1: Place sauce ingredients into a mini ninja blender. Pulse until emulsified.

Method #2: Place all ingredients EXCEPT the oil into a small mixing bowl. Whisk together until blended. Continue to whisk as you slowly pour in the oil. Whisk until emulsified. Drizzle over salad.

 

 

Easy Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

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I am not a particular fan of ice cream, so I tend to not keep it on hand. That said, when I do get a hankering for it, I want it, and I want it now! Fortunately, it is so easy to make myself, that it’s never a problem to satisfy that craving, as long as I have an hour or two to give it a chance to firm up in the freezer. The other day I had a serious craving for strawberry ice cream. You may not think that’s unusual, but let me tell you it is so unusual that I don’t think I’ve ever had strawberry ice cream before. Naturally, I had to make some, and it was so good! This recipe is super simple, and requires no tricky custard making on top of the stove. You simply whip cream, and fold it with the rest of the ingredients, and then put it into the freezer until it’s ready. Yum!

Easy Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 T. vanilla extract
1 c. frozen strawberries, rough chopped
Red food coloring, optional
2 cups heavy cream

Combine the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla in a large bowl; stir in strawberries and food coloring, if desired. Beat 2 cups heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Fold into strawberry mixture. Pour into a 9” x 5” loaf pan. Cover, and freeze 6 hours or until firm.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Last week I told you about Magpie Restaurant on Historic Main and their delicious Asparagus Soup.  If you missed out on that post, you can read it here.  This week I am featuring another charming eatery in Saint Charles, Missouri called Miss Aimee B’s Tea Room and Marketplace.  Every time I go I find at least one thing, oh, who am I kidding?  More like ten things that I want to buy.  I am still thinking about the French flower bucket that really called my name so I may just have to go back this week, but I digress.  The restaurant and shops are contained within the walls of the wonderful Marten/Becker House, a Historic Home built in1865 by Francis Marten, now on the National Register of Historic Places.  Their food is tasty, the desserts divine.

Now, as you know, if you’re paying attention, until recently I was a rhubarb virgin.  Yep.  True, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.  But since then everything has changed.  First I made this jam; secondly I tasted Miss Aimee B’s Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler.  Why did I wait so long to fall in love with rhubarb?  Fortunately for you Miss Aimee B’s has a cookbook, in fact, THREE of them, all with recipes for customer’s favorites, including the cobbler, so I am sharing this recipe with you.  It is very easy and enormously delicious.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

5 cups frozen rhubarb, chopped

2 cups sliced strawberries, half fresh & half frozen

1 ½ cups self-rising flour

2 ½ cups granulated sugar

1 ½ cups milk

1 ½ tsp. almond extract

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray a 13” x 9” pan with PAM.  Place the rhubarb in the bottom of the pan, topped with the strawberries.  Combine flour, sugar, milk, and almond extract.  The dough will be lumpy.  Pour over the fruit.  DO NOT STIR.  Pour the melted margarine over the dough.  Use a tooth pick to swirl margarine into the dough.  Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.  Serve warm or cool with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or dollop of whipped cream or vanilla yogurt.

Yield:  12 to 16 servings.

This post is linked to:

On the Menu Monday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Strawberry & Passion Fruit Sparklers

With the temperatures going up to record-breaking levels this weekend and 100° not out of the question, I am gladder than glad that I made an extra batch of the simple syrup, strawberry, and passion fruit mixture that I told you about here, and froze it in ice cube trays.

A summery old-fashioned glass, a couple of the fruity cubes, and a bottle of sparkling water will be all I need to keep cool this weekend in deliciously fine form.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone.  Stay cool!

This post is linked to:

Seasonal Sunday

Passion Fruit Strawberry Tangerine Refresher

Remember the exotic fruits from this blog post? I’ve been having a good time finding new and delicious ways to eat them.  A couple of you confessed to not recognizing some of these fruits, so here is a picture with all of them identified.

I was familiar with all of them with the exception of passion fruit, so I tried it today.  The taste is like nothing I’ve experienced before: complex, and not easily describable.  Picture tropical islands warmed by the sun, where flowers are in full bloom and the ocean breeze is blowing the heady fragrances your way.  If you could take a bite out of this fragrance, that would taste like passion fruit.  The pulp was enjoyable enough to just scoop right out of the skin, but I decided that a tropical drink was in order and came up with this to quench my thirst after a day of planting.

Passion Fruit Strawberry Tangerine Refresher
Makes 2 quarts

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 pt. fresh strawberries, hulled

Pulp from four Melissa's passion fruits

1 cup freshly squeezed Ojai Pixie Tangerine juice

Club soda

Extra sugar for sugaring the rim of your glass

Directions:

Bring water to a boil. Add sugar and boil for one minute until thoroughly dissolved; remove from heat and allow to cool.

Place strawberries, passion fruit pulp, and sugar syrup mixture into the work bowl of a blender and puree until smooth. Add puree to 2-quart container with orange juice and enough club soda to make 2 quarts. Chill before serving. Serve over ice in sugar rimmed glasses.

Imbibe in a tropical setting if possible.

This post is linked to:

Seasonal Sunday