Shrimp & Avocado & Grapefruit Summer Salad

Ah this spanish salad was so refreshing and wonderful given today it has been 38 degrees outside. This is the original recipe, but I added a few twists here and there to make it a whole meal, basically I added noodles, chow mein I already had ready to go. (On that note: don't you think Chow Mein are the best noodles ever?? I do.) 

This proportions are for 2 people only.

INGREDIENTS: 
-15 decent shrimp.
-2 grapefruit (one for juice only)

-1 or 2 avocado.

-some lettuce.

-some green onions or red onions diced up in cubes.

-some pasta or Chow Mein noodles for carbohydrates.

For dressing:

-The juice of half of a grapefruit.

-2 tablespoons of apple vinegar.

-2 tablespoons of olive oil.

-salt and pepper. 

STEPS:

1. The preparation is crazy simple. Peel up the cooked shrimp. 

2. Slice up the avocado.

3. Peel up the grapefruit and get all skin off from each segment.

4. Now prepare the vinagratte in a bowl. Mix: grapefruit juice, olive oil, apple vinegar and salt and pepper and give it a good mix. 

5. Now place the shrimp in the vinagrette and let it soak there for 5 minutes. They have to be well coated.

6. Add the diced red onions to the mix.

7. Now prepare the bed of salad and noodles.

8. Place on top, the avocado, the grapefruit, and now pour all the shrimp with the dressing.

That's it. SOOOOO good and most importantly: so refreshing. 

 

My Salad Dressing

 There is nothing more annoying that to have spent 1 hour cooking a main dish and now, of course, you still need to do the salad...seriously. Who has time or energy to season it decently? sometimes I eat the leaves raw cause I am just fed up of cooking.

And this is why it has taken me 13 years to publish a recipe of salad dressing, cause in all these years, I just could not be bothered to make one!

But our trip to Australia taught me a great trick that I do not want to forget. My mother in-law, the queen of salads, adds always a little bit of syrup to them! it is sheer magic, they taste so good. So I figured I could add this to a salad dressing. 

So here is my invention for you all. My dressing is 150 ml total, by the way.

INGREDIENTS:
-80 ml of olive oil.

-20 ml of balsamic vinegar.

-25 ml of apple vinegar.

-25 ml of maple syrup.

-1 tsp of salt.

-some cracked pepper.

-some rosemary, thyme, oregano, and dukah.

No recipe! 

mix it all together and give it a good stir in your jar. Obviously you can correct the flavour, if it is too salty, or sweet or bitter....just add more of the opposite ingredient, but I think my recipe is a great balance.

I'd say Paul Newman would congratulate me. ;)

Italian Basil&Tomatoes Salad

 Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand back to the frying pan, aka: summer in Madrid. 38 degrees for the next 2 months. And what to eat in this weather?? Always the question, isn't it? but in this weather cold food is a must.

 A wonderful salad for the summer, inspired by a recipe of Jami Oliver from his book "The ministry of cooking". I only added pasta to make it a full meal.

INGREDIENTS:
-500 grams of many types of tomatoes, big, small, yellow, greenish etc.
-250 grams of tuna.
-1 can of black olives.
-100 grams of white beans.
-a very good bunch of fresh basil leaves.
-400 grams of cooked pasta.
-2 tablespoons of red vinegar or apple vinegar.
-olive oil, salt and pepper.

STEPS: 
1. Cut the tomatoes in small bits, as Americans say: in bite-size.

2.Add the olives, the tuna that you have drained and toss together.
3.Now cook the pasta and cool it off by running cold water and add to the pot.
4. Now add the basil leaves, cut them in half so that they are smaller, and now season with salt and pepper a little, not too much because the tuna and the olives already have salt.
5. Now you can add the red vinegar to season the salad and stir. This step you can also do it in step 1, only to the tomatoes.

 

This salad is great, the star of the show is the fresh basil, it makes it SUPERB. 

If you take it out it will be another boring summer salad but with the basil and the vinegar, it is pretty spectacular....it makes the basil taste sweet even. Kenton loved it.

Thai Bean Sprout Salad

Bean sprouts just go bad so fast, don't you think??? 

I had a whole bag and I looked for a salad recipe. This one came up and was pretty good! Will be making this again because it was so fresh. This is more or less the recipe I followed but with a few twists of another recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
-2 cups of bean sprouts more or less. 
-1 cucumber sliced.

-2 small carrots sliced.

-1 cup of cilantro.

-1/2 cup of peanuts crushed.

Dressing:

-3 tablespoons of rice wine.

-3 tablespoons of sunflower/sesame oil

-the juice of 1 lime.

-2 tsp. grated ginger.

-1 clove of garlic grated.

-1 tablespoon of fish sauce.

-2 tablespoon of honey.

-some black pepper but NO salt.

There are no steps other than assemble the salad and mix the dressing and pour over aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand add the peanuts. The peanuts on top is so so so good a game changer. Very good, healthy and crunchy. Obviously in this salad you can play around with some mint, some basil....try it.

Colourful Bean & Pepper Salad

 Hello!

Another salad recipe before summer disappears from our lives. Another one of Smitten Kitchen, Deb you are a source of fun in life. This recipe is seriously tasty. Deb Perelman calls it beach salad....hmmm I would't go that far but this salad is seriously good and not too hard.

INGREDIENTS:
-2 jars of white beans.
-3 peppers of different colors.

-1 small red onion.

For the vinagrette:

-6 tablespoons of olive oil.

-4 tablespoons of apple vinegar.

-1 lemon squeezed.

-1 tsp of oregano.

-1 tsp of rosemary.

-1 garlic clove minced.

-1 tsp of salt 

-black pepper. 

STEPS:

1. Rinse the beans of the tins so that you get rid of all that water from the jars.

2. Cut the peppers in slices and roast them at 225 for about 20 minutes until they char a little. Let them cool a bit before mixing with beans.

3. Create the vinaggrette, mixing everything.

4. Pour over the salad. 

That's it. This salad it's real good, well done Deb! Kenton loved it. You can take this salad easily to a pretty beach.

Tomato and Cheese Pasta Salad

 This salad from Budget Bytes is pretty good and not hard, perfect for a picnic. It comes with a pretty interesting vinagrette salad. As you can see, it is a bit of a race to fit summer recipes! only 1 month left of summer.....(I consider summer till mid October).

INGREDIENTS:
-400 grams of pasta.
-200 grams of cherry tomatoes.
-200 grams of feta cheese.
-100 grams of mozzarella cheese.

-100 grams of baby spinach.

-100 grams of rocket or other salad greens.

For the vinagrette:

-1/2 cup of olive oil.

-3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.

-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise. 

-2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese (optional).

-1/2 tsp of dijon mustard.

-1 clove garlic minced.

-1/2 tsp of dried basil.

-salt and pepper.

STEPS:

1. Well, what can i say, there are no steps in this recipe other than, boil the pasta and cool it off with lots of cold water, cut the cherry tomatoes in two and wash the salad and place all of the ingredients in a big bowl. 

2. Make the vinagrette stirring really really well. I cut a little the oil of the original recipe, it was a bit too oily for my taste. Also I did not add the parmesan cheese and it was totally totally fine. Be generous with the pepper.

The star ingredient of this recipe are the nice cheeses and the vinagrette....I added a little chicken to make it a complete meal. Pretty good you all, pretty good. 

 

Broccoli Summer Salad

 Okay so that broccoli could taste so good has been a big surprise today when I made this salad. But yes it can! this salad was so good. I made it ONLY because I wanted to make something crazy healthy cause I have been eating sooooooooo bad lately, so much crap. Anyway, wow, it was so good. Sweet, sour, with a kick, crunchy....marvelous salad and not hard, the only hard part would be toasting the almonds in the grill for 5 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:
-2 heads of broccoli.
-100 grams of toasted almonds.
-125 grams of cranberries.
-1 small red onion.

For the dressing:

-1/2 cup of buttermilk,

-1/3 cup of mayonnaise.

-2 tablespoon of cider vinager.

-1 tablespoon of sugar.

-3 tablespoon of shallots.

-1 pinch of salt.

-some pepper.

STEPS:

1. Slice up the broccoli in small bits, really watch the video of Deb because it is a great explanation. Add the chopped broccoli to a bowl.

2. Now chop the onion in small bits and add half to the bowl.

3. Toast the almonds for 5 minutes in the grill, they are so good if you do this, really.

4. Now chop up the cranberries, so much better if you chop them.

5. Now add all the ingredients for the dressing and add the rest of that red onion and the finely chopped shallot and stir well.

So so good. I had no idea you could get so much pleasure out of eating broccoli you all.

Caesar Pasta Salad

 I have loved this salad this summer! It is so filling, tasty and refreshing. I would like to say that it is dead easy too, but it is not dead easy, perhaps easy but not dead easy. Still I think it is worth making it. The original website called it the greatest matrimony of pasta and caesar salad and I think it is well put.

INGREDIENTS:

For the salad:
-400 grams of pasta.
-4 lettuche hearts.
-2 cups of cubed chicken.

-1 cup of croutons.

For the dressing:

-2 tsp dijon mustard.

-2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

-2 tsp of worcester sauce

-3/4 cup of mayonnaise.

-2 tsp of minced garlic.

-1/3 cup of parmesan cheese.

-50 grams of anchovies cut up in bits (optional)

STEPS:

1. Boil the pasta, cut up the lettuce, the chicken in cubes.

2. While the pasta is boiling prepare the cruttons, season them with salt, garlic powder and rosemary (this is optional).

3. Now prepare the sauce. A no brainer mix everything together. I added anchovies but Kenton hates them so I made two dressings.

It's so good you all! the lettuce is a gread addition that adds so much crunch, it is awesome this salad, super refreshing. Pretty happy to have made this because I wanted to learn to make this salad but seemed like a waste of time without the heavy carbohydrates.

 

Amish Pea Salad

 This recipe's charm is more the name than the flavour let's be honest,,, a dream recipe. The key to this recipe is to have ingredients that actually taste like something, so get a nice strong cheese, a nice ham and peas that taste like peas! This is real key. Oh and bacon, let's be honest, everything is better with bacon in life. It is an easy salad, perfect for summer.

INGREDIENTS:
-500 grams of peas.
-125 grams of strong cheese in cubes.
-4 slices of bacon.
-1/4 cup of mayonnaise.
-1/2 cup of ranch dressing
-1 tablespoon of chives.
-1/4 tsp of black pepper.

-250 grams of turkey in cubes.

There are no steps to this salad other than cube everything up, fry the bacon add dressing and toss around, and decorate with pretty parsley. The peas can be even added frozen. 

         

Classic Russian Potato Salad

 This is a good salad for summer that will make your basal temperature drop like crazy. I had to put on a sweater after it, I was so cold! I found this recipe in this website, hoping the lady is Russian! It was pretty good and I think pretty Russian too.

The key magic ingredient of this salad that takes it to another level is fresh dill or eneldo. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is the ingredient that will make this dish like something else and not like the billions of russian potato salad that taste like nothing, or a bunch of white cardboard at best. Finally this salad take about 2 hours to make, because you need to chop, let veggies cool and let it sit in fridge.

INGREDIENTS:
-4 chicken thighs.
-1 and 1/2 cup of peas.

-3 carrots.

-100 grams of  turnip (nabo in Spanish).

-3 big potatoes.

-4-5 big sweet pickles.

-1 cup of mayonnaise approx.

-Fresh dill, lots.

-salt and pepper.

-1/2 beetroot for decoration.

STEPS:

1. In a big pot of water boil the chicken, the potatoes, and the carrots and the turnip until it is all soft for 30 minutes. Get the meat out before once it is cooked. Let is all cool off for 1 hour.

2. Now chop everything into small pieces with a knife: the chicken, potatoes, carrots, turnip, and pickles etc. The reason why you chop it now and not before it's because if you do it before boiling the veggies and everything lose its shape. 

3. Now add everything together in a bowl and add the peas. 

4. Now beging to add the mayonnaise spoon by spoon, and add a lot of dill that you have chopped up. This ingredient is a MUST: fresh dill. Add also salt and pepper and mix well.

5. Now place in some type of oven tray or plate and place a layer of mayonnaise on top and decorate with beetroot. Beetroot is another protagonist of Russian cooking.

6. Stick in fridge for at least 30 minutes and it will solidify and flavors come together.

I tell you this salad will make you cold! Perfect for summer.

Seven Layer Salad

 I made this salad yesterday and it was an utter total success. It is perfect for a picnic and the flavours are all very soft, I would say all kids would love it.  Thank you Britanny! I miss your blog and recipes.

INGREDIENTS:
-2 bags of salad. 
-4 boiled eggs.

-200 grams of bacon.

-3 tomatoes.

-1/2 red onion.

-2oo grams of frozen peas.

-200 grams of grated cheese.

STEPS:

1. Cook the bacon in a saucepan until it is crispy and very brown, let it cool off and absorb the grease with paper towel.

2. Boil the eggs and cut them in quarters.

3. Cut up the onion in very small pieces and the tomatoes in bits.

4. Now that you have all the ingredients ready, begin to layer up in a transparent bowl. Begin with the salad, creating a bed. 

5. Now add the tomatoes, then the onions, the peas, the cheese, the eggs and the bacon.

That's it! Make sure the ingredients are well put around the edge of the bowl so that it looks pretty.

Now serve with ranch sauce! this is salad is not just pretty, it is sooooo good! You can see my photographer helpers. 

This is the other variation, bring a bowl of lettuce and salad and then in a tupperware bring the rest.

  

Vietnamese Vegetable Rice Rolls with Peanut Sauce

 This is a great picnic dish, obviously it is a special one, but just a great way to eat vegetables and the sauce is really fantastic and original. This recipe is from Steamy Kitchen, and seriously I had been wanting to do this recipe since 2013! 

INGREDIENTS 

For the rolls:
-Rice paper wrappers, like 16 or 20.
-About 10 lettuce leaves, soft ones.

-1 cup of sliced carrots.

-2 cucumbers julienned.

-1 avocado in slices.

-1 red pepper in slices.

-1 cup of cilantro leaves.

-1 cup of mint leaves.

-1 cup of basil leaves.

-3 sunny side up fried eggs.

For the peanut sauce:

-1/4 cup of water.

-4 tablespoons of lime juice.

- 5 tablespoons of orange juice.

-1/2 cup of peanut butter.

-1/2 teaspoon of minced ginger.

-1 teaspoon of honey.

-1/2 teaspoon of chopped garlic.

-1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce.

-1 teaspoon of sesame seeds.

-3 drops of almond extract.

STEPS:

1. Julianne the vegetables and have them all ready in bowls. Obviously all ingredients are optional, you just want crunchy vegetables.

2. Prepare the rice paper wrappers, basically you need to dip them in hot water. Dip them and they soften enough, do not dip them in boiling water, it ruins them and you can't work with them.

3. Simply wrap up the vegetables putting a little bit of everything.

4. Create the sauce. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and use hand mixer to blend, it is real good this sauce, peanuty, garlicky, gingery and almondy. It goes amazing.

And just enjoy! This recipe is laborious but worth it.