Fruit Salad with Vanilla-Lime Dressing

School's out, summer is in full swing and the KC kitchen staff is more eager than ever to get to work.

I, on the other hand, am readjusting to the amped up summer house volume and the sheer exhaustion of fielding ceaseless requests to paint, set up the sprinkler, help practice piano, go to the park, walk to the library, recall the Spanish word for prairie (pradera, by the way), host a spelling bee, make popsicles, make worksheets, make popcorn, make playdough, put on a puppet show, demonstrate a proper cartwheel, and the dreaded...can we plug in the glue gun?

With the day spiraling into hot glue territory, it's time to act. Fast. So what's quick, simple, can be made from stuff you already have sitting on your kitchen counter and irresistibly enticing to a swarm of sunscreen-slathered, half-dressed ragamuffins armed with a glue gun?

Fruit freaking salad, baby.

Fruit Salad with Vanilla-Lime Dressing
inspired by The Pioneer Woman

For the dressing

1 cup granulated sugar
2 limes, zest and juice
1 cup water
1 & 1/2 tsp good vanilla extract (or the caviar of one fresh vanilla bean)

For the salad

1/2 medium peeled, pineapple, cored and chopped into chunks
1/2 small cantaloupe, rind removed, seeded and chopped into chunks
1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 cups grapes, halved
1/2 pint blueberries
1/2 pint raspberries
1 handful fresh mint leaves

To make the dressing, combine the sugar, lime zest, juice, water and vanilla in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil, stirring until all of the sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and let cool.

You'll be relieved to know that preparing a fruit salad requires no advanced training. Wash, peel, core, and slice fruit as necessary and put it all in a bowl. Use whatever fruit you have. Enlist your glue gun-wielding kitchen staff and go to it.

Pour the cooled dressing over the top of the fruit and toss everything together gently. Or if your staff has a case of the pickies, leave the dressing on the side and use it as a dip instead. Garnish the whole beautiful mess with mint leaves.

Don't forget to destroy the glue gun while their slurping the last of the juice from their bowls.

Mixed Bean and Radish Salad

Fish makes me nervous. It's not that I find most fish to be shady characters, it's more the unscheduled trip to the ER kind of nervous. Not rational. Roo has never tested positive for a fish or shellfish allergy and he has been tested. He's eaten fish multiple times with no reaction whatsoever, but for some reason every time I slip a little fish sauce into a marinade or dare place a flake or two of salmon on his plate my knees get a little quaky. Yup that, friends, is my idea of living on the edge.

My goal is to get the KC kids eating more fish, first, because I need to get over my own irrational fear that Roo's going to go into anaphylactic shock if he ingests an anchovy, and second, because kids who squeal at the sight of fish on a plate are annoying. That's not to be confused with kids whose parents choose not to give them fish for religious or moral reasons, sheer personal preference, or obviously, because they are allergic to fish. Those kids are not annoying. Well, maybe they are annoying, I really don't know. That's for you to decide. Anyway, that my kiddos balk at the smell of fish cooking is decidedly irritating and I'm taking steps to remedy it. Baby steps.

So here we go. Anchovies. Look, there they are right up top. Rest assured there is no way my children, particularly my girls, would entertain the notion of trying a bite of salad (or chocolate cake for that mattter) if they had the slightest inkling that there were tiny hairy fish in it. That's why I didn't mention it.

And fortunately they didn't ask.

Mixed Bean and Radish Salad
adapted from bon appetit

2 anchovy fillets, packed in oil, drained
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp capers, drained
2 & 1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided (pack it into the cup to measure if you're a perfectionist)
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch radishes, trimmed and sliced
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-ounce can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-ounce can Cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup black olives, pitted and halved

Put the anchovies, oil, capers, and 1 cup of parsley into a food processor or blender. Puree until you have a slightly coarse, pulpy puree. Transfer to a small bowl, stir in the vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste, but watch the salt. Between the anchovies and capers, this is already one salty dressing.

Put the radishes, all the beans, olives, and remaining parsley in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the top and toss gently. Do not mention the anchovies to anyone under 10 until they've finished eating.

In fairness, this wasn't the kids' favorite salad but they all managed a few bites (yeah, a few bites of briny, beany, radish salad with secret anchovies!) and that is progress. Happily, Roo survived yet another uneventful fish exposure. Though the idea of him and a bite of lobster still makes me start to lose my hearing. I'm working on it. And still the push for more fish on the KC table continues.

Asian Rainbow Chicken Salad

Asian Rainbow Chicken Salad is the name, deconstruction is the game.

From all the way back to the first hints of Roo's textural sensitivities and oral delays, the concept of deconstructed dinner has been my friend. Still is. The concept is simple.

See, there's this for you...

And this for them...

And it's so freaking easy! Start with a slew of fresh colorful vegetables. This is the perfect time to shell out a few extra cents for the rainbow pack of bell peppers or purple carrots if you happen to find them. Hit the grocery store, use what I used or raid your crisper drawer and go from there. As long as you have a nice variety of colors and textures, nobody's going to complain. Cucumbers, grape tomatoes, corn hacked off the cob...it's all good. Just don't forget the cabbage. It's the base for your salad.

So, have you played Crunch a Color with your kids yet? I'm not getting any kickbacks here, promise, but you really need to own this game. Order it right now. Then serve this salad for dinner an prepare to be amazed at what your children will eat at the promise of 15 points.


Asian Rainbow Chicken Salad
adapted from my personal idols, Jenny Rosenstrach and Andy Ward, via bon appetit

For the dressing
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp grated peeled ginger
kosher salt

For the salad
1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped (keep some seeds if you like it hot)
1/3 small head green cabbage, thinly sliced
1/3 small head red cabbage, thinly sliced
3 carrots, peeled and shredded
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
5-6 scallions, thinly sliced (white and light green parts only)
3 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
2 cups baby spinach, thinly sliced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup pepitas
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

To make the dressing, combine the first 6 ingredients (oil through ginger) in a small bowl. Whisk well. Season with salt. If you'll be serving the dressing to anyone who can't handle a little heat (like my kids for instance), reserve a portion of it in a second small bowl. Add the jalapeño to the remaining dressing and stir.

Arrange a portion of the colorful sliced vegetables, chicken, and pepitas like a rainbow onto plates - one for each kid. Place a small bowl of (jalapeño-free) dressing in the center and serve to the munchkins in your life. 

Bean's a fan too

Roo likes it.

Now, combine the remaining vegetables and chicken in a large bowl. Drizzle the jalapeño dressing over the top and toss it all together. Sprinkle pepitas and toasted sesame seeds on top and voila...an elegant dinner for the grown-ups too.

If you happen to have a couple of buttermilk fried chicken strips lying around, go ahead and throw those on the plate too. Special thanks to the Pioneer Woman for the leftovers.

And if you're looking for even more variation and deconstruction inspiration, this Thai Steak Salad deconstructs equally well.

Sugar Snap Slaw with Miso Dressing

Sugar snap peas are having a moment. Everywhere I look someone is slicing, dicing, or chomping on crisp emerald sugar snaps. Some of us are even mixing a few into spicy black rice salad!

The KC kiddos love sugar snaps but let's talk cabbage for a moment. I often lament Looly's late emergence picky eating. The girl who once happily gummed avocados, artichoke hearts, salmon, and sirloin now subsists primarily on waffles, bread, and berries. But friends, at least we still have cabbage.

For whatever reason, Looly adores raw cabbage. Green, purple, it doesn't matter. Her enthusiasm is infectious to the point that Bean and Roo now complain if I miss their plates with a few crispy strips of coveted "slaw" too. I cannot complain about that.

For all their love of cabbage, the 6-and-unders here have zero in salad dressing. It doesn't matter. Let them munch their raw sugar snaps and cabbage ribbons. As usual, I set aside a deconstructed version of slaw for them - really just fresh cabbage, slices of sugar snap peas, and a few radishes, which they (perhaps oddly) also seem to enjoy. That means more yummy dressing for me. More for you. 

Sugar Snap Slaw with Miso Dressing
adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

For the dressing

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh miso (mild yellow or white)* plus more to taste
2 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp sunflower or grapeseed oil

Throw all of the dressing ingredients in a blender and mix until you have a thick, creamy, delicious puree. Alternatively, place all the ingredients in medium cylindrical container (like those that often come with an immersion blender) and whip to perfection with a handheld blender.

* Find fresh miso in the refrigerated section of most well-stocked grocery stores

For the Salad

1/2 pound sugar snap peas, washed and sliced on a diagonal**
1/2 pound cabbage, thinly sliced
4-6 radishes, cut into matchsticks
3-4 scallions, thinly sliced
3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (you can toast your own or buy them already toasted, like I did)

Toss all of the salad ingredients together, reserving 1 tbsp sesame seeds. Pour your desired amount of dressing over the top and toss everything together. Top with the remaining 1 tbsp sesame seeds.

You will likely have more dressing than you'll need for the slaw. Keep the extra in the fridge and it will last several days. It makes a super tasty dip for just about any crunchy veg you can think of...carrots, radishes, cucumbers, peppers, green beans, baby corn, kale chips, you name it.

**In her cookbook, Deb Perelman says to blanch the sugar snaps, but I don't find it necessary. They're lovely and delicious raw or blanched so my philosophy is, why add a step? If you prefer your veggies more tender, go ahead and blanch the peas for a couple of minutes before slicing. I skip it.

Orange, Chicken, and Avocado Bulgur Salad

Citrus, feta, avocado, whole grain...this is my kind of salad!

I've been trying for some time to expand the wee ones' grain horizons beyond pasta, couscous, and rice. Sadly, quinoa is repeatedly met with staunch resistance. This summer, a deconstructed version of this farro salad was a hit with the KC kids so I'm trying my luck again, this time with bulgur.

Since the 6-and-unders here tend to be purists, I often resort to deconstructing whatever Mufasa and I are eating for them, like this.

Not bad, right? That's bulgur, grape tomatoes, feta, clementine wedges, avocado, and chicken. I only need to prep one set of ingredients and we all end up eating the same thing, just in a different guise.

The verdict is in. With a little help from my friend soy sauce, bulgur is a go with 2 out of 3 KC kids! And that Looly, well, she never likes something the first time, and even she managed a few bites. Victory is mine.

Orange, Chicken, and Avocado Bulgur Salad
adapted from Cooking Light, February 2013

1 cup bulgur wheat, uncooked
3 tbsp orange juice
zest of 1 orange
2 tbsp olive oil
1 & 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
8 ounces shredded, cooked chicken
1 medium avocado, diced
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
6 ounces feta cheese, 1/4-inch diced
2 oranges or 4 clementines, peeled and sectioned
fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)

1. Combine 1 cup bulgur and 2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer about 10-12 minutes (allow more time for larger, coarsely ground bulgur) until the grain is tender. If any water remains, drain it off. Fluff bulgur with a fork and cool to room temperature. You should have about 3 cups of cooked. Don't forget to set some aside if you're planning a deconstructed version!
2. Combine the juice, zest, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk to combine.
3. In a large bowl, combine cooled bulgur with remaining ingredients. Toss everything with the dressing and sprinkle with fresh cilantro.

Summer Vacation Salad

Just as we're about to leave town for anything longer than a weekend the panic sets in. What to do with all that produce that won't make it until we're back? This time our Angelic Organics CSA box arrived Wednesday and we were leaving for Traverse City, Michigan, (more on that in a later post) on Saturday, so it was quite a bounty!

First, I whipped up some pico de gallo but in the flurry of packing, cooking, searching for bathing suits, and back to school preparations, I never got around to taking photos. Rest assured it was suitably fresh and piquant with lots of jalepenos, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, lime, and even a few chopped tomatillos thrown in for good measure. We brought it along in the cooler and ate it all vacation long with chicken, over pulled pork, on eggs, and mixed with pasta.

For my next endeavor, Vacation Salad. What's Vacation Salad you ask? Why, it's anything you need it to be. That is the beauty of Vacation Salad.

To make Vacation Salad simply dump the perishable contents of your refrigerator as well as the wire basket or whatever contraption you use to store non-refrigerated vegetables onto the counter. For us that meant I was staring down exactly 4 ears or sweet corn, 8 tomatoes (that was after the pico de gallo), 2 green peppers, one red bell pepper, one banana pepper, one zucchini, one yellow squash, a white onion and two lemons. Get chopping.

Then make a splash of dressing and drizzle over the top. Mix it all up and pack it in the cooler.

The longer it sits, the better it gets. For maximum flavor, enjoy on a balcony overlooking a beautiful mist-hooded lake.

Now obviously, the allure of this salad is that you can make it out of whatever you happen to have on hand. Here's how ours went down.

Our Summer Vacation Salad

Corn kernels cut from 4 ears of sweet corn
8 tomatoes (any variety)
2 green peppers
1 red bell pepper
1 small yellow squash
1 zucchini
1 banana pepper
1 medium onion

For the dressing

1 clove garlic
1 cup basil leaves, loosely packed
zest of one lemon
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup good quality olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper

1. Place corn kernels in a large bowl. Chop all the other vegetables into 1/4-inch dice and add to the corn.
2. To make the dressing, puree the garlic and basil in a blender. Add the lemon zest and juice and pulse to combine. Slowly drizzle in olive oil through the top opening in the blender lid while continuing to pulse. Season with salt and pepper and pour over vegetables. Mix the whole concoction together and serve, or pack it up in tupperware for your own vacation, or at the very least, a leisurely picnic lunch.