Olla-Podrida: Melissa's Muscato Grapes

Friday, July 13, 2018

Grape Salad with Toffee Almonds

I have seen other grape salads, in fact, I have made other grape salads (like this one here.), that really push the “salad“ boundary to the limit. Let’s face it; a lot of grape salads really aren’t salads at all, but delicious desserts.

Because this is Muscato grape season, and because I love grapes, I try to use them in as many ways as possible, including green salad, chicken salad, coleslaw, and yes, a salad all their own. But, it occurred to me that to be able to truly call this a salad, it needed a vegetable or two. So, I turned the traditional dessert-y-type of grape salad on its head, and added actual salad ingredients. It doesn’t lose a thing when it comes to great taste, but gains a little bit when it comes to nutrition. If you’re looking to sneak some vegetables into your family’s meals, you can hide them fairly well here.

Grape Salad with Toffee Almonds

1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of cinnamon
1 3-pound pkg. Melissa’s Organic Red Muscato Grapes

½ cup chopped celery

2 Tablespoons grated carrot
1/2 cup toffee almonds (find recipe here), plus extra for garnish

In a large mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Fold in grapes, celery, carrots, and almonds. Refrigerate at least one hour. Serve in one large, or eight individual serving dishes topped with a few toffee almonds.

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For a refreshing salad that uses a variety of grapes, try this Fresh Grape Salad.

This post is linked to:

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Best of the Weekend
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Snickerdoodle Create Bake & Create

Grace at Home

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Saturday, September 23, 2017

Greek Salad with Walnuts & Grapes

During my weekend of frenzied salad making (seriously, my salad spinner got the workout of its life), one of the taste-tempting salads that I made was this Greek Salad. I am a big fan of the Greek Salad and, even though traditionally Greek Salad does not have lettuce, mine always do. This time, for a change of pace, I added a couple of nontraditional ingredients in walnuts and grapes. I love the Muscato grapes this season, so used a trio of colors in the salad. I enjoyed it so much that I don't think I will ever make a Greek Salad again without including grapes.

I served it on these darling glass leaf plates that, sadly didn’t show up against the colorful fall fabric. You can find them here. They come in green, gold, and orange; I bought two of each. Try this delicious salad, and let me know what you think.

Greek Salad with Walnuts & Grapes

1 head Romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup cubed English cucumber
1 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, halved
1/2 cup broken walnuts
1/2 cup sliced red onion
1/2 cup Melissa's Muscato grapes, quartered
1 teaspoon capers
1/2 cup feta

Dressing:
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine salad ingredients in a bowl and toss with dressing.

To make dressing put all ingredients into a bullet blender, and process until emulsified.