Strawberry Merlot Vinaigrette

I shared our recent Strawberry Picking trip yesterday.  We brought home about a gallon of fresh berries and lots of ideas of what to do with them all.  Since I had just gotten a new Merlot Vinegar at the Farmer's Market on Thursday, I thought that the vinegar mixed with the berries would make a great summer salad dressing.

Ingredients:

6-8 Strawberries hulled

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons Merlot Red Wine Vinegar (Or a red wine vinegar of your choice)

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon dried basil

pinch of sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

Put the strawberries, honey, vinegar, oil, basil, salt, and pepper in a food processor or blender.  Pulse until it is liquefied.  It's really that easy.  Add more honey if you want it sweeter.  You could use fresh basil too, I just didn't have any on hand. 

Pour over your favorite salad and enjoy!  

Those are carrots, not cheese;-)

Even my kids loved this dressing, and usually the only kind they will eat is ranch. This is definitely one that we will be making a lot this summer!

Potato-Less Potato Salad

One of my major food weaknesses is pasta salad.  I love all types of pasta salads and during the warmer months we have one with just about every meal.    My two favorites are potato salad and pasta salad.  This recipe takes the two of them and  puts them together.   It is a pasta salad made the same way you make potato salad, but with noodles instead of potatoes.  You get the same flavor, it just takes less time and less work ( no peeling and slicing of potatoes involved).  It has quickly become a staple salad in our house and one I have to share with you.

 Potato-Less Potato Salad

 Ingredients:

1 box pasta noodles of your choice. I like to use shells or elbows.

6 hard boiled eggs

3 stalks celery, diced

dill pickles, diced (optional)

mayonnaise

2 teaspoons yellow mustard

paprika

seasoned salt

 

Directions:

1. Boil  your pasta noodles according to package directions.  While pasta is cooking, hard boil your eggs as well.  

2. When the pasta is cooked to al dente, drain it, rinse it with cold water to stop the cooking process, and let cool.  

3.Once your pasta and eggs are cooled off add the pasta to a large bowl.  Chop your eggs into the size pieces you desire and add them and the celery and pickles.to the noodles. 

4. I add roughly 1/4 cup of mayo, or enough to make the salad creamy.  Add as much or as a little as you want-the same as making potato salad.

5. Add your mustard (you can omit the mustard if you like).  I add about 1-2 teaspoons.  Mix well and sprinkle with paprika,  seasoned salt, and fresh ground pepper.  

 

You can either serve immediately or chill for about an hour before serving.  It also makes great leftovers.  

*You can make this Gluten Free by using Gluten Free noodles.

 

Beat the Heat with Watermelon Salad

Perhaps the best thing about summer is watermelon. And we certainly take advantage of that all summer long! I have 3 watermelon in my overflow fridge right now that I am sure will get eaten in the next week!

Last summer I came across a recipe for a watermelon salad that is so simple, yet so good. I cannot remember where I got the recipe, and in fact I cannot find my copy of it, so I made this from memory using the same basic ingredients but I am sure it's a little different than the original.

Ingredients:
1/2 watermelon- cubed
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 green onions chopped
a handful of fresh mint, chopped



Directions:
Cut the watermelon into cubes. This is a very messy process so I find that putting a towel under the cutting board helps.


Add the green onion and mint.

In a measuring cup whisk together the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Pour over the melon.

Mix well. If the melon is already cold you can serve immediately, or you can chill for an hour before serving.



This is such a simple salad, but it is so refreshing and makes a great dish to share at cookouts.