Napa Salad With Grilled Shrimp And Mustard Vinaigrette

Tonight I felt like salad for dinner. I thought I'd make a napa salad, and grill some shrimp to put on top of it. This dish paired with homemade mustard vinaigrette is fantastic! This salad is great, because there are so many different flavors! All of the ingredients work perfectly together, and create a symphony of balance in your mouth. Sweet, tart and savory all in one dish, this recipe will make you want salad every night for dinner!

For The Salad:

2 Cups Spinach

4 Cups Mixed Greens (I like Romaine and Butter Lettuce)

1/2 Cup Gorgonzola Cheese

1 Fuji Apple (Chopped)

1 Cup Dried Cherries

1 Cup Corn

1 Avocado (Chopped)

1/4 Cup Slivered Almonds

2 Roma Tomatoes (Chopped)

Salt & Pepper To Taste

Cooked Shrimp (Any amount you want)

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except for shrimp. Skewer shrimp and season with salt and pepper. On a hot grill, grill shrimp about a minute a side or until warm. Place shrimp on top of salad. Toss salad with Dressing and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Mustard Vinaigrette: (This is a must for this salad)

1 T Minced Garlic

1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar (I use a 25 yr balsamic)

2 t Dijon Mustard

1 Cup Canola / Olive Oil Blend Oil (If you do not have this oil, make your own. Use 75% canola and 25% olive oil)

Sea Salt to taste

Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

Pinch of Thyme

Combine all ingredients into a bowl and whisk until blended. This dressing can be stored in the refrigerator.

Tip:

***Use chicken instead of shrimp.

***If you do not have a grill, saute shrimp in a skillet until warm.

Granola Bars

I'm always looking for great tasting, healthy snacks. I like making homemade granola bars, because there's so many things you can do with them. You can change what kind of dried fruit you want to use, add some different spices, and use what ever nut you want to. This recipe is for a dried cherry chocolate chip granola bar.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

3/4 Cup Slivered Almonds

1/2 Cup Wheat Flour

1/2 Cup Honey

1 Ounce Butter

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar (I like to use the Splenda brown sugar)

2 t Vanilla

1 t Sea Salt

2 Cups Dried Cherries

1/2 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Put rolled oats on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven at 350 for about 8-10 minutes. Stir halfway through, and make sure they do not burn.

In a small saucepan, combine butter, honey, brown sugar and vanilla. Cook over medium heat until sugar has completely dissolved.

Take oats out of oven and pour into a bowl. Add wheat flour, and mix. Pour butter mixture over oats and stir until coated. Add dried fruit and chocolate chips. Put mixture into a 9x9 inch sprayed pan and bake at 300 for 20-25 minutes. You want the bars to be slightly browned. When bars are done cooking remove and cool on a rack. Once cooled, cut into bars. These can be stored in a Ziploc bag or an air tight container. Enjoy!

Other Combinatons to try:

***Dried apples, pecans and cinnamon.

***Dates, dried cranberries and walnuts.

***Dried blueberries, almonds and coconut.

***Sunflower seeds, dried tropical fuit mix, walnuts

Basil Pesto

Basil to me is the best herb! I can never get enough of it, and it tastes fantastic fresh! Since I have quite a bit of it growing on my patio, I have decided to make fresh pesto. It's easy to make, and taste great on pasta, pizza and sandwiches!

What you need:

2 Cups Packed Fresh Basil Leaves (I like to mix my regular basil with some spicy basil)

1/4 Cup Toasted Pine Nuts

2 Cloves of Garlic

1 t Sea Salt

1/2 t Fresh Ground Pepper

2/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 Cup Fresh Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese

How To Make:

Put first 5 ingredients into a blender or food processor, and pulse. Gradually add enough olive oil to make a smooth and thick mixture. Once desired consistency has been met, transfer pesto to a bowl and stir in cheese. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Store in refrigerator in air tight container. Enjoy!

Corn Salsa

Since fresh corn seems to be everywhere now a days, I like to make corn salsa. It's a simple recipe and great to bring to that Labor Day barbecue!

Ingredients:

Juice of 3 Limes

4 Cups Sweet Bi-Colored Corn, Cooked

1/3 Cup Finely Diced Red Pepper

1/2 Cup Black Beans

1 Finely Diced Jalapeno, Seeded

2 Green Onions Chopped

Chopped Cilantro (to taste)

1 t Sea Salt

1/8 t Cumin

1/8 Chipotle Powder

Instructions:

Combine corn, beans and all chopped vegetables with lime juice, salt, and cumin. Toss and serve with your favorite corn chips.

***I like to grill my corn, and make it slightly charred for this recipe.

Cheesecake

Cheesecake is one of those recipes that is great for any season. There are a number of things you can do with it, and depending on the season you can top it with just about anything. To me, it's pretty hard to find a good cheesecake recipe. I think the secret to a good cheesecake is that thin layer of sour cream on the top. No one really knows what it is, but knows it tastes great! The other thing that makes a great cheesecake is cooking it in a water bath. This allows the cake to keep moist while cooking and avoid cracking. I made this for family, and decided to go with the over all crowd pleaser cherry cheesecake!

To Make The Crust:

1 1/2 Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/2 t Cinnamon
1/3 Cup Melted Butter

Combine ingredients, and press into a 9 inch spring form pan using the bottom of a rounded glass. Go about 2/3 of the way up the sides.

For The Filling:

4-8 Ounce Packages of Cream Cheese (room temp)
1 1/4 Cups Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
2 1/2 t Vanilla
5 Eggs

Combine cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and vanilla in an electric mixer. Blend until mixture is smooth and creamy. Whisk eggs in a bowl and gradually add them to cream cheese mixture. Blend just until eggs have been incorporated. Pour filling into crust. Wrap outside of pan with foil to ensure cake will not get wet when placed into water bath.

Heat oven to 475 with a large pan filled with 1/2 inch of water. Pan needs to be big enough to put cheesecake inside of it. Allow pan to sit in oven while it preheats. Once oven is ready place cheesecake inside of large pan and cook for 12 minutes at 475. Turn oven down to 350 and cook an additional 50-60 minutes. You want the top of the cheesecake to be slightly browned.

When cheesecake has cooled take 1/2 cup sour cream and 2 teaspoons of sugar, blend, and spread on top of cheesecake. Cover and chill for several hours before serving.

Once cheesecake has been chilled, pour one can of cherry pie filling over top of cheesecake and garnish with fresh whip cream! Enjoy!

Grill - Baked Scalloped Potatoes

I made this recipe over the weekend and it's perfect for a barbecue! Since Labor Day weekend is upon us, I thought it was a good one to share!

What You'll Need:

1 Stick Melted Butter

8 Cups Thinly Sliced Russet Potatoes (I use a mandolin to get thin slices)

1 Sweet Onion Sliced Thin

1/4 Cup Flour

Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper

3 1/2 Cups Milk

1 1/2 Cup Shredded Cheese (I use white cheddar)

8 Slices Cooked Bacon Chopped

2 Green Onions Chopped

How To Make:

Drizzle about 4 tablespoons of butter on bottom of a foil 9x13 inch pan. Spread butter around. Line bottom of pan with sliced potatoes, sprinkle some sweet onion, flour, cheese, salt and pepper to layer. Drizzle some butter, and repeat layer until potatoes have run out. Gently pour the milk down the side of the pan so you do not disturb top layer. Add cheese, bacon and green onion to the top and wrap pan with foil. Cut a slit in top of foil to vent. Place potatoes on hot grill. If you do not have a grill, you can cook the potatoes in the oven. Whether your using a grill or oven, the temperature should be at 400. The potatoes will take a least 60-75 minutes. Check them after an hour and adjust cooking time if needed. I like to take the foil off the last 10-15 minutes to slightly brown the top. When potatoes are done, pull them off the grill and allow to cool for a few minutes. This will allow the sauce to thicken. Sprinkle some fresh shaved cheese over top to garnish!

This one's for you Frank!

Apple Slices

I can't believe it is September 1st all ready! Where did the summer go? As much as I enjoy summer, I absolutely love the Fall! It's my favorite season! The days are getting shorter, and the nights are getting cooler...apple season is just around the corner! I had a request for my apple slice recipe, so I figured I'd post it since it's perfect for this time of the year! It's a little time consuming, but is well worth the effort. If you make this recipe, make sure to make the dough, and do not use store bought pie crust. It is not the same. The dough for this recipe is what makes this recipe fantastic! My father loves these apple slices! He likes them so much that when I make them I usually have to make two batches because the first one disappears rather quickly! Hope you enjoy it, as much as he does!

Apple Mixture:

10-12 Apples, peeled and sliced (I like to use golden delicious)

1/2 t Salt

2 C Sugar

1 t Cinnamon

4 T Flour

2 T Butter (for top)

To Make Filling:

Mix apples with dry ingredients. Save butter until crust is ready for filling.

Dough:

1 1/2 C Shortening

4 C Flour

1/2 t Salt

3 T Lemon Juice

2 Eggs

6 T Water

Directions:

Sift flour and salt together. Add shortening into flour until mixture becomes coarse. Beat eggs, lemon juice and water together. Add to first mixture. Mix and turn out on wax paper and press into a ball. Cut ball in half (top & bottom crust). Roll bottom crust out on floured surface to fit a 15x11x2 inch pan. The bottom crust should line the bottom of the pan, and the sides. Once bottom crust is ready, pour filling in, pat the apples with butter. Roll out top of crust, place on top of filling. Take a fork and prick top crust with a few holes to vent. Bake slices at 450 for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Icing:

While slices are still warm, make the icing. Take one whole bag of powdered sugar, enough hot water to make spreadable, 1 tsp vanilla and a dash of salt. Drizzle all over the hot slices and allow to cool on a rack.

The apple slices taste good warm, but they taste even better cooled! You can cut and freeze these too! Enjoy!