Texas Caviar

Texas Caviar: Only you can decide if this is a salad or dip.

Texas Caviar is an all time favorite recipe from my childhood.  I remember being up at my grandparent's cabin and eating enormous mixing bowls full of it with my cousins over the Fourth of July weekend every year.  When my cousin, Bjorn, first brought his girlfriend, Ann, up to the cabin, she volunteered to bring a dip.  She brought the world's most enormous container of Texas Caviar.  My other cousin and I took a test bite, and then another, just to be sure it was as delicious as it seemed.

As soon as Ann was out of the room, my cousin said to me, "I can tell she's a keeper; look at how much salsa she brought!"

Sure enough, the next summer Bjorn and Ann got married.

Texas Caviar is an awesomely popular and widely adapted recipe, and this recipe comes to you courtesy of my Mom's best friend Jeri.  

I have, of course, taken more than my fair share of liberties with the recipe, but I think we can all agree that a great recipe like this is like a great house.  You might change from Victorian furniture, to shag carpet, to DIY vintage, but the bones of the house stay the same.  It's the same thing with this recipe.  I might have added a few ingredients, and subbed out a few ingredients, but the heart of the recipe remains the same.

My riff on Jeri's recipe reminds me of one of my favorite passages in Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist, a book that my mom gave to me for mother's day. Niequist writes, "I'm not really a recpie girl. My Mom teases me about it, knowing that when I say I used a recipe, all it means is that at some point, some list of ingredients and techniques were involved as I threw things in pans, as I sliced, poured, salted and peppered with seeming randomness.  She does not particularly appreciate this cooking style, and sometimes she has to leave the kitchen because my loosey-goosey approach makes her nervous."

When I was making this Texas Caviar, I had a hard time deciding if it was a salsa or a salad. I've landed on both, but mainly because we ran out of chips, and I did not want even a single bite of this delicious dish go to waste.  

The black eyed peas and garbanzo beans form the tender and mild backbone of this Texas Caviar, but the real flavor party starts to happen when you add sweet peppers and ripe corn, the lightly acidic bite of grape tomatoes.  Creamy, rich avocados contrast with the sweet and acidic vegetables, and the pungent zest of red onions and cilantro highlights all of the flavors.  But to make this dish sing, you really need Jeri's balsamic vinaigrette. Her dressing is a perfectly simple and balanced dressing that soaks into the beans and the vegetables causing each distinct flavor to harmonize, like a very small symphony...in my belly.

The specific recipe I made is below, but leave a comment to let me know your favorite adaptations.  I'm going to be making this again on Saturday, and I'm always looking to try something new.

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Texas Caviar

by Hannah Rounds May-19-2014

Texas Caviar is a bean salsa. Perfect for eating with tortilla chips, or not. Depending on how you're feeling that day.

Ingredients

• 2 Cans or 1 Cup Dried Black Eyed Peas- Cooked
• 1 Can or 2/3 Cup Dried Garbanzo Beans- Cooked
• 1 Cup Fresh or Frozen Corn Kernels
• 1 Cup Grape Tomatoes- Diced
• 1 Small Red Onion- Diced
• 1 Avocado- Diced
• 1/2 Bunch Cilantro- Finely Diced
• 1/4 Cup Balsamic
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
• 1.5 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Salt

Instructions

1. Mix beans, vegetables, and cilantro in a very large bowl.2. Whisk Balsamic, olive oil, sugar and salt until well combined3. Gently pour dressing over vegetables and mix until everything is soaked.4. Refrigerate for at least two hours to allow vegetables to marinate before serving.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 2 hour Total time: 2 hour 20 mins Yield: 10 Servings

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Spinach Salad with Ginger Carrot Dressing

Colorful food is fun to eat, and dressing makes it delicious!

My college years were salad glory days.  Our dining hall made some pretty incredible food, all things considered, but the salad bar was the stuff of legends.  It had spinach, iceberg lettuce, soy beans, tofu, little baby corns, carrots, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, boiled eggs, hummus, and on and on and on.

It was popular to take two large bowls, fill one with veggies and dressing and use the other as a lid and shake the salad up for an even distribution of dressing and salads.  Like a McSalad Shaker, only big, and with more than three ingredients.  

While most people used a two handed approach to shaking the salads, I distinctly remember having a cross country teammate who bragged that he could shake these bowls with one hand... and he could. I was impressed.

However, his bragging about his salad shaking ability (shaking what his mama gave him as he put it) often prompted competitions of machismo which inevitably resulted in the other competitor dropping salad everywhere.  Our poor dining hall workers.

These days, I wouldn't be nearly as impressed with the size of his hands or his salad shaking abilities, because for a few months, I worked with a guy whose hands were the size of kleenex boxes.  He could probably palm a basketball the same way I can palm a softball.

As I was going to say, before I so rudely interrupted myself with reminiscing is that post-college, I never thought I would be able to make salads nearly as well as I did in college due to a lack of an appropriate salad bar.  

I don't know about you, but I don't think the 8 foot by 8 foot kitchen shared by four women in my first post college home wasn't exactly conducive to industrial sized salads.  I pretty much gave up salading altogether.

That was until I started reading food blogs about a year ago, and I noticed recipes for salads.  And the recipes weren't just dump everything into a bowl and shake.  It was actually a thoughtful combination of a reasonable number of ingredients.  "Self, you can do that," I thought to myself, and I could.

I didn't have to buy the entire produce section, just enough ingredients to make me a healthier person, and the rest could be rounded out with things I already had on hand.

This salad comes close to one that I would have eaten in college.  Just a basic bowl of crisp delicious veggies, with the crunchy addition of uncooked ramen.  It's really the dressing that makes this a salad worth sharing.  Rather than being primarily cream or vinegar based, this one is actually aromatic based, so its a really unique flavor.  The dressing is a combination of onions, garlic, carrots, ginger, fish sauce, vinegar and sesame oil pulsed together until it becomes a sauce.  The flavor is what would happen if ceasar dressing and ponzu sauce got married and had babies, but in a good way.

Be warned, you will want to brush your teeth after this one.

Like all salads, the best way to eat this would actually be to add some meat to the salad, but for the purpose of the post, I kept it simple.  I hope you enjoy!

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Spinach Salad with Ginger Carrot Dressing

by Hannah Rounds May-1-2014

Enjoy a delicious salad with an aromatics based dressing

Ingredients

• 2 Carrots - Finely Grated- Divided
• 1 Red Onion- Finely Sliced- Divided
• 1 Clove Garlic- Pressed
• 1.5 Inches Ginger Peeled
• 1 Teaspoon Fish Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
• 1-2 Teaspoons Rice Vinegar
• Up to 2 Tablespoons Water
• 3 Cups Spinach
• 1 Yellow Bell Peppers- Diced
• 1/2 Cucumber- Thinly Sliced
• 1 Package Uncooked Ramen Noodles

Instructions

1. In a food processor combine 1/2 of carrots, red onion, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, sesame oil and vinegar. Pulse until smooth. Add water if necessary.2. Toss vegetables with dressing and enjoy

Details

Prep time: 14 mins Cook time: 1 mins Total time: 15 mins Yield: 2 Servings

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Kale Salad

You know its a good day when this is your lunch!

A few months back, I met a lady named Princess.  I like this lady's mama; she had no qualms letting the world know that her daughter would be a complete diva!  To be fair, Princess is not a diva in the Kim Kardashian sense of the word, but she is confident and very funny, and we share a mutual love of food.

Our first conversation was about kale.  She and I had both recently converted to kale, and I mentioned that my favorite method to consume kale was in a kale salad, and she said, "Uh uh... kale is just too chewy for a salad."

I worked her through my recipe for delicious kale, but she seemed unconvinced.  However, last Sunday in church (the service had already started), I felt a tug on my arm. "I had kale salad," she whispered, "it was good." Double thumbs up.

Unlike most people who grew up attending church, I never mastered the just loud enough whisper, so I gave an awkward smile and returned the double thumbs up.

Apparently my attempt to communicate my happiness was not sufficient because after the service, Princess sought me out, and said again, "Did you know that now I really love Kale salad.  I've eaten it every day this week.  I used your recipe!"

"Yeah, you told me about thirty minutes ago.  That's awesome! I'm glad to have a kale salad buddy."

"Okay, I thought you might be mad because your face looked all scrunchy when I told you."

...Awkward pause...

"So, frisbee tonight?"

Now, while I tell you about this kale salad, I want you to not picture my face.  Because I think if you do that, you will be more likely to try it, and you will not regret the decision to eat more kale.

The kale is crisp and cool, and covered in a tangy, sweet coleslaw dressing.  Then the salad is piled high with sweet crunchy goodies like cucumbers and apples, and little tart but chewy bits of craisins and raisins.  Finally the whole thing is topped with zingy red onions and a generous crumble of feta cheese. And since I made it a meal, I threw on a little bit of shredded chicken which launched the whole thing past the outer atmosphere of healthy delicious and into zero gravity delicious.

How can you resist it?  You cannot, and you should not because you will feel great eating this.  I can feel my skin getting clearer already.

What's that stop talking and just give me the recipe? Okay, but first, a picture of Littlest who preferred playing with the garden hose to eating even a single element of this salad.

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Kale Salad

by Hannah Rounds April-30-2014

A delicious and healthy entree salad that is loaded with all kinds of salad goodies.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Mayo
• 2 Teaspoons Red Wine Vinegar
• 1 Teaspoon Sugar
• 3 cups Kale- washed and cut into bite size pieces
• 1 Apple- Diced
• 1/2 Cucumber- Thinly sliced
• 1/2 Red Onion- Thinly Sliced
• 1/2 Tablespoon Raisins
• 1/2 Tablespoon Craisins
• 4 Tablespoons Feta Cheese
• 1 Cup Shredded Chicken

Instructions

1. Whisk together mayo, vinegar and sugar2. Toss dressing and kale3. Add the other ingredients and eat immediately

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 1 mins Total time: 11 mins Yield: 2 Servings

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Mexican Cucumber Salad

A refreshing salad with a hint of heat.

Do you know what was trendy when I was in college? Water bottles (#WatBot). We were all trying to save the Earth one refill at a time.  And the fact that I lost about fifteen water bottles over the course of four years? A small price to pay for a more sustainable future... I guess.

These days, I just drink my water straight from a glass (or if I'm in the mood for snazzy water I add cucumber, lemon, and basil to a pitcher that I keep in the fridge), and every time I take a sip of water, I feel downright self righteous about the whole thing.  I'm improving my health, I'm not causing the Earth any harm, my skin is glowing, and everything is right with the world.

Now, what if you could take that water drinking feeling and apply it to food?  Enter this cucumber salad.  Of course, eating salad is a great way to serve penance for your food sins, but that's not what this salad is about.  Nor is about shoving as many antioxidants into your mouth as possible (that's what a chia-acai-blueberry-coffee smoothie is for).  Moreover, its not even about paleo one-upmanship.  This is just a refreshing, feel good salad.

The salad is nothing more than thinly sliced cucumbers that are lightly pickled in lemon juice and salt, tossed with a little olive oil, some cilantro, a touch of sugar for sweetness, and jalapenos and red pepper flakes for spice.  It's simple, and its delicious, the perfect balance of sweet, sour and spicy for a late spring day.

The inspiration for this salad came from the Food Charlatan, and I loved her version. However, I felt that the salad needed just a little bit of sweetness, and I actually preferred the lemon over the lime (I discovered the lemon on accident because the Limes at the grocery store felt like little golf balls, so I purchased luscious, ripe, aromatic lemons instead).

This salad keeps for at least three days in the fridge (it might keep for longer since its basically pickles, but I wouldn't know since we eat it pretty quickly after making it), and for maximum deliciousness I do recommend letting it do its marinating thing in the fridge for a few hours.

With cucumbers selling for about a nickel a piece, I've been making a ton of this salad and eating it as an after run snack.  It sort of feels like edible hydration, and I love it.  Make it today! It's so easy and all the ingredients are normal, so you won't even have to run to the store (unless you have no cucumbers, then you have to wait to make it.)

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Mexican Cucumber Salad

by Adapted from The Food Charlatan April-29-2014

A refreshing salad with a hint of spice.

Ingredients

• 2 Cucumbers- Very Thinly sliced (these should be bendable)
• 1 Lemon Lemon Juice
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 Teaspoons Sugar
• 2 Jalapenos- Finely Diced
• 1/2 Bunch Cilantro

Instructions

1. Whisk lemon juice, salt, olive oil and sugar. Add finely minced garlic if desired.2. Coat cucumbers, jalapenos and cilantro in the dressing then cover bowl3. Allow salad to marinate at least three hours before serving

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 3 hour Total time: 3 hour 10 mins Yield: 6 Servings

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Mediterranean Pasta Salad

The Greek economy is still in the tank, but their food (and ancient philosophers) are still as delicious as ever!

It's salad week here on Crowdsource My Dinner! Yes, that's right, a whole week devoted to that summertime classic, the salad.

Of course, some people have really nailed that healthy eating thing, and they eat salads year round (complete with pomegranate seeds in the winter).  For me, salads are a summertime/ when I am visiting my mom kind of thing, and here in North Carolina we cracked 80 degrees on the thermometer so summer has officially started!  In the summer, produce is not only abundant, it tastes much better than it does at other times in the year, so its a perfect time to shove antioxidants into your belly.

The inaugural salad for salad week is this refreshing yet substantial Mediterranean pasta salad. I love Greek food (evidenced by the Pita bread, Tabouli, and Gyros recipes), but its not a flavor profile that I have a ton of experience creating.  This pasta salad was an easy way for me to experiment with the elements of Greek food that I love without worrying that my technique wasn't exactly perfect.  And I loaded the salad with meat because that's really the only way to make a pasta dish filling.

When I was a kid, my dad would eat my mom's chicken pasta salad with a large serving spoon because he felt it was the only way it would fill him up.  Being my father's daughter, I am always skeptical when someone mentions a "filling salad."  As a result, I will make no such claims here, but I will mention that after eating this, I did not eat again for six hours, and I did not even cry about it one time.

I will, however, claim that this salad is delicious.  The chicken is bursting with flavor, and the flavors of the Mediterranean are vibrant enough to wake up any tired palate.  I loved incorporating the different and alliterative vegetables into this meal: crisp Kale, crunchy cucumbers, robust roasted red (peppers), oily olives, odiferous onions, aromatic artichokes and perfect pasta.

In all seriousness, pasta salad is a great way to enjoy the vibrant flavors of Greece.  I made sure to use a wide variety of vegetables to be sure that the salad had sweet, briny, crunchy and potent elements.  The result was flavorful juicy roasted chicken paired with al dente farfalle tossed in a citrus vinagrette and then married with the medley of vegetable flavors.  What could be better on a summer afternoon?

Maybe it's not quite summer where you live.  Well, you can feel free to enjoy this anyhow, because this little guy will bring you a little bit of sunshine.

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Mediterranean Pasta Salad

by Hannah Rounds April-28-2014

The vibrant flavors of Greece in a pasta salad. Adding feta cheese would be a wonderful addition.

Ingredients

• 1 Pound Farfalle Pasta- Cooked Al Dente
• 1.5 Cups Shredded Chicken Breast
• 1 Teaspoon Paprika
• 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Rosemary
• 1/2 Teaspoon Oregano
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Small Red Onion- Thinly Sliced
• 1 Roasted Red Pepper- Sliced
• 6 Ounces Black Olives- Sliced
• 2 Ounces Marinated Artichokes- Sliced
• 1/2 Cucumber- Peeled and Sliced
• 1 Cup Kale
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
• 1/2 Lemon Lemon Juice
• 3 Cloves Pressed Garlic
• 1 Teaspoon Sugar

Instructions

1. Cook and cool pasta. Add a bit of olive oil to prevent it from becoming sticky.2. In a small frying pan, heat a small amount of olive oil. Add chicken and spices. Cook until chicken is heated through.3. Whisk together Olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and sugar to create a dressing.4. Toss pasta, chicken and dressing in a large salad bowl5. Add all vegetables to the top of the salad and gently stir them in. Try really hard to keep all the olives from not dropping to the bottom of the bowl.

Details

Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 1 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: 4 Servings

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