Two Bean Salad with Tarragon Dressing

Who doesn't love cold salads? This recipe is perfect as a healthy side dish to serve at summer barbecues and can even be made a day in advance. The dressing has a nice balance of sweetness and tang which compliments the flavorful crunch of the green beans.

Recipe Adapted from Vegetarian Times

Ingredients

Dressing
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp maple syrup
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 c olive oil
1 tbs fresh tarragon

Salad
1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
15 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 c cherry tomatoes, halved
6 oz can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 c pitted kalamata olives, halved
1/4 c sliced red onion
1/4 c finely chopped Italian parsley

Directions
Fill large pot with 1 inch of water and set steamer basket in pot. Cover, and bring water to a boil. Place green beans in steamer basket. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and steam 2 - 3 minutes, or until green beans are crisp-tender. Cool.

Toss green beans with all remaining salad ingredients and place in large serving bowl.

For the dressing, blend vinegar, mustard, maple syrup, garlic, salt and pepper in blender or food processor until smooth. With machine running, gradually add oil and tarragon through feed tube, and blend until smooth. Pour dressing over salad, and toss to coat. Serve at room temperature.

Artichoke Spinach Dip

I made a ton of this dip this weekend for a little Memorial Day barbecue. This dip is always a hit at parties and can be made ahead of time and heated right before guests arrive. This can be modified to be as healthy or as naughty as you like, but the full-on heart attack version tastes the best. This recipe will make a 9x9 Pyrex pan worth of dip.

Ingredients
1 cup daisy sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 80z block cream cheese, room temp

1 bag chopped frozen spinach, thawed
1 large jar marinated artichokes, chopped- reserve the juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t hot sauce
1 cup sharp cheddar or Parmesan cheese
salt, pepper, cayenne, cumin to taste

1/2 cup home made bread crumbs (see below)- substitute with panko if lazy

Serve with tortilla chips, sliced peppers, carrot sticks, thin sliced toasted baguettes, etc.

Directions
In a large bowl, mix the first 7 ingredients together. Add half of the vinegary juices from the jar of artichokes to the mixture. Add a half cup of the cheese into the dip and season to taste. Transfer to a greased pyrex pan and top with remaining cheese.

To make the bread crumbs, toast 5 slices of sourdough bread until golden. Tear into pieces and combine in a food processor or blender until crumbly. Add 1/4 cup melted butter and mix. Crumble on top of dip.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is golden and dip is bubbly. Serve warm.

Modifications

• Add a jalapeno that is seeded and finely chopped for an extra crunch and spicy kick.
• If dip needs a little more of that marinated vinegary taste, add red wine vinegar
• Forgo cream cheese and just use mayonnaise and sour cream
  

Puff Pastry Traingles with Feta, Spinach and Artichoke

I was having a craving for spanikopita and had some extra puff pastry in the freezer from the tarts that I made about a week ago, so I came up with this. These are easy to make, just require a little time to stuff and seal the pastry squares. I served these over a little mixed green salad with home made balsamic dressing. Recipe makes 16- I would recommend making 3-4 per person.
















Ingredients
1 cup cooked spinach
1/2 cup chopped artichoke hearts
1/3 cup mix of fresh herbs- I used basil, thyme, chives and Italian parsley
1/2 t Italian seasoning
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup herbed feta crumbles
1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese
splash of red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1 package puff pastry, thawed (2, 10" squares)
















Directions
Mix the first 10 ingredients together in a bowl. Lay out puff pastry on a cutting board and cut each piece into 4 squares. With a butter knife, take each square and make a perforation diagonally through it to make 2 triangles- do not cut in half. Put 2-3 spoonfuls of the spinach mixture onto one side of the diagonal line and fold pastry over so that it folds into a little triangular pouch. Press sides together and roll up slightly until sealed.

Repeat this process with remaining pastry squares. Place triangles on a cookie sheet, spray tops with olive oil and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Take out of oven, let cool for 5 minutes and cut each larger triangle in half to make nice bite sized ones.

Asparagus and Mushroom Tarts

This weekend we moved to our new place, so first off, I would like to say GOODBYE TINY KITCHEN with 14 inches of counter space and hello new perfect kitchen! I have been without a dishwasher or a garbage disposal for the last two years, and boy have I missed them!















This was the first meal that I made in our new house. My lovely family came down from Roseville to help us move and were a wonderful help to us. I wanted to make them a nice little meal after a long day of moving that we could enjoy lots of wine with. I saw this recipe while reading this month's Bon Appetit and decided to try it. I have been intrigued by tarts lately- they are something I have found plenty of perusing through my vegetarian cookbooks.
















(Adapted from Bon Appetit) Makes 8
Ingredients
1 17.3-ounce package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
1/4 cup unsalted butter
12 ounces baby portabello mushrooms, cut into thin pieces
1 t coarse kosher salt
1/2 t coarsely ground black pepper
1 pound asparagus spears, trimmed, cut along length and then into 1" pieces
1 1/2 t chopped fresh thyme
1 1/2 t lemon peel
1/2 cup crème fraîche
1/2 cup (packed) coarsely grated Gruyère cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out puff pastry and cut each sheet into 4 equal pieces. Set on foil lined cookie sheet. Score the edges of the squares with a knife making a 1/2 inch design around each piece.

In a fry pan, melt butter. Add mushrooms and part of the salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5 minutes. Drain mixture and let cool.

In a bowl, combine mushrooms through gruyere to make the filling. Mound the filling in the center of each tart. Cook tarts for 12-15 minutes in the oven or until puffed up and golden and filling is cooked through.













I served these with a large garden salad and some balsamic roasted artichoke halves with a basil garlic aioli. To make the aioli, mix a half cup mayonnaise with 1 clove crushed garlic, splash balsamic, and 5 large minced basil leaves and set in fridge for at least an hour. I think everyone enjoyed their meal. Our favorite wine of the evening was Work Vineyard's Syrah.

Stuffed Artichoke with Roasted Red Pepper Mayonnaise

I usually eat pretty plain artichokes with mayonnaise, but love going to restaurants and seeing them cooked fancy. I thought I would take a stab at making one myself. I think an essential step with this is making the breadcrumbs yourself. Home made ones are just so much better than the store bought kind!

Ingredients
1 artichoke, leaves trimmed and top cut
1/4 loaf old french bread
1 t melted butter
1/8 c shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 tomato, diced
salt, pepper, olive oil

1/4 c lowfat mayonnaise
1 garlic clove
juice of half a lemon
1 roasted red pepper















Directions
Steam artichoke in a boiling covered pan for 35 minutes or until fork tender. Let cool and then turn upside down and spread leaves out slightly. With a large spoon, scoop out the soft inside of the artichoke, just leaving outer leaves and heart.

While artichoke is steaming, put bread and butter in a food processor to make bread crumbs. When artichoke is prepared, drizzle with olive oil to help the stuffing stick and then alternate adding the Parmesan, breadcrumbs and tomato. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put in a baking dish and bake at 425 degrees for 8 minutes.

While artichoke is baking, add remaining ingredients to a food processor to make the red pepper mayo. Serve artichoke warm or at room temperature.