Bonnie Salad

One of my go to, throw together salads that I love ...

iceburg lettuce, i love it's crunch !
chopped tomato
chopped cucumber
chopped avocado
crumbled feta cheese
pine nuts
usually there would be sliced red onion but i don't see any in the photo

topped with a vinaigrette or italian dressing
or like this one ... just a sprinkling of your favorite vinegar, olive oil and rock salt

easy peasy
yummy yummy

Salad Sandwiches

A great Aussie sandwich ... not something I'd eaten many of before moving here.
(a sandwich with only salad fixins ... I've had plenty of other sorts of sandwiches!)

This one had leftover Artichoke and Cumin Dip, Tomato,
Cucumber, Sliced Beets, Sliced Mushrooms, Pine Nuts and Fresh Spinach !

It was delish !

And here's Alia whipping up her Salad Sandwich ...
she and Jono both opted out of mushrooms, and beets !
But they both had pine nuts which was a pleasant surprise !!

Asparagus Pizza

I made Bonnie's asparagus pizza last night, but changed a few things because of certain circumstances. It was SUCH a huge hit that I was told I HAD to write down EXACTLY what I did so that we can make it JUST that way EVERY TIME! :-) So, here is my modified version of Bonnie's asparagus pizza.

The mushrooms (1 1/2 packages) we had gotten were going a little bad so I sauted they with corsely chopped garlic (~ 5 large cloves) and the asparagus (cut into bit size-ish pieces) in a bit of olive oil. Then I needed more oil because the mushrooms soaked up all of it, so I threw in a couple squirts of this roasted garlic and onion oil. Then, I didn't want to overpower the dish, but I still needed more oil so I threw in a glug (like my exactness??) of peanut oil. The last minute or so of sauting I threw in a couple of generous handfuls of pine nuts. After the last minute I turned off the heat, but did not remove the pan from the hot burner.

I mixed 1 small can of tomato sauce and 1 can of chopped black olives and spooned that over the crusts (I also discovered that the bobali crusts are nice if thrown in a 250 degree oven for 5 minutes or so - just on the rack). I spinkled a bit of italian seasoning over the the sauce. I then spread the veggie mixture on. Next, I sprinkled a generous amount of green olives, which I had cut in half. Then, I sprinkled a generous amount of kalamata olives around. I sprinkled one package of feta around and topped with a three cheese pizza mix. Into the oven till the cheese was melted and just barely starting to turn brown in a couple of spots. Serve and enjoy! YUM!!!!!!

Lemon Spaghetti

Giada De Laurentiis from Food Network

Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

1 pound spaghetti
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the oil, Parmesan, and lemon juice in a large bowl to blend.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce, and the reserved cooking liquid, adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon zest and chopped basil.

*NOTE*
We use whole wheat spaghetti and like to add toasted pine nuts as well. This is a super easy dish! One of our favorites!

Spinach and Roast Garlic Salad

I got this salad recipe from the cookbook above.

I modified it a bit and am posting the modified recipe.

12 garlic cloves, unpeeled (I used a head and a half)
4 tbls olive oil
450g/1lb baby spinach leaves (I used a spinach/rocket mix and only about 150g)
1/2 pine nuts, lightly toasted
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper
I also added fresh mushrooms.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Put garlic in litte roasting tin with 2 tbls olive oil. I didn't use that much ... I just drizzled a bit. Roast for 15 min or so ... til garlic cloves are slightly charred around the edges.

While still warm, tip the garlic into a salad bowl. Add the spinach, pine nuts, lemon juice and remaining olive oil and a bit of salt. Toss well and add black pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

I didn't follow that exactly. I mixed up the dressing before adding it. I didn't read the amount of lemon juice properly and squeezed the whole lemon. Instead of adding it straight to the salad, I chopped a bunch of mushrooms and put them in the dressing to 'marinate' while the garlic cooked. Then I scooped them out and added them to the salad along with a couple spoonfuls of the dressing. I also peeled the garlic before adding it to the salad.