Beet & goat cheese salad

One of my favorite salads to have once in awhile, when I have all ingredients on hand. Exactly on hand!
You know, when you look at the recipe and it looks fantastic and seems like its pretty easy to make; and you are already imagining how you going to reproduce this incredibly easy recipe in your kitchen....and then you see something like: " roasted beets" or "homemade linguini " in the ingredients list; or "2 cups of homemade tomato paste" which you were supposed to make ahead because it takes 3 hours to make it! ugh...

So a disclaimer:  for this particular recipe you have to have a roasted beet. If you are asking how to roast it, here it is: wash the beets, let it dry, wrap it in the foil, and roast in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F, let it cool for another 2 hours or so. If you are like me and this idea doesn't seem so exciting, then just go to the closest grocery store and buy the roasted beets.
When I have time, I usually try to roast beets ahead, few at a time. I keep it in my fridge for a week or even 2 weeks.

Beet & goat cheese salad
serves 1 person 

handful arugula
1/4 of roasted and cooled medium beet, diced
1/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

On  a bed of arugula  place the roasted beets, toasted walnuts and goat cheese. Pour the olive oil and  vinegar over the rest of ingredients. Season with black pepper.

Pasta Salad

Recently I have decided to cook a few authentic Italian dishes, using the original recipe's sources or at least the closest one to the original.

It is pretty fun, as cooking with a purpose is much more interesting.
So here, I will post few Italian recipes which have nothing to do with the healthy eating or any substitutions.
I do not want to mess up with "real" home cooking, so I use whatever the recipe asks for, even if it is a butter or lard or whatever.

The only substitution I will probably make is the whole wheat pasta, which i might use if possible, if not, then whatever pasta is needed. I will try to find and cook with the freshest and organic products, so the taste is real.
I will mark all related posts as "Authentic Italian", so you know it's not a clean eating etc.
But I promise you, IT IS worth it!!! To have a real pasta dish, with creamy butter and bacon (well, my first thought: butter->coconut oil, bacon->prosciutto)  is a treat which you can afford once in awhile, simply because you deserved it ;-)

My first shot, Pasta Salad:
source http://www.mangiabenepasta.com/salads_pasta.html

12 ounces (1 package) tri-colored bow tie pasta (cooked al-dente)
½ cup sliced scallions
2 roasted medium peppers, diced.
1.5 cup feta cheese, crumbled
few fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ cup chicken broth
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dried oregano

Mix pasta with scallions, feta, pepper and basil. In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, chicken broth, lemon juice and oregano.
Pour sauce over the pasta. Stir gently. Serve immediately. Enjoy with a glass of wine on a summer porch!

Fennel & Pine nuts Salad

I have noticed, this recipe is pretty popular, the bigger part  of  food blogs I'm reading has this salad in their recipe book.
To tell you the truth, I have never tried fennel before (I even thought that the only edible part is the upper green one).
When I was a kid, I lived in Ukraine back then, my mom used to make this fresh spring salad, but we had a white shredded cabbage instead of the fennel. And lots of dills. Almost all Ukrainian salads should go with either dill or parsley.

Fennel & Pine Nuts salad:

2 small bulbs of fennel

1 medium cucumber

4-5 radishes

chopped dill

chopped chives

2 tbsp toasted pine nuts

1 tbsp lemon juice

5-6 tbsp virgin olive oil (or any other oil)

1 tbs of white wine vinegar (I think regular will work too)

black pepper

Trim the fennel, here is the helpful link Click Here. 

Slice the fennel, radishes, cucumber very thinly. Add chopped dill and chives.

Mix the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and pepper. Pour over the sliced ingredients. Garnish with pine nuts.

P.S. Let this salad rest in a cool area at least 20 minutes before serving . 

Идеальный и быстрый дессерт для себя любимой

Как я уже упоминала раньше, в нашей семье не едят сахар так же, как и  белую муку и сливочное масло. Есть очень много полезных заменителей этих продуктов.

Но если по чесноку, то я должна признаться, что миллиардное колличество моих искренних попыток сделать "полезную" замену неполезным ингредиентам увенчались большим провалом  (например мои первые almond cookies получились красивыми только на вид, так как в них небыло сахара ни а каком виде).
И вообще я считаю, что настоящий добротный дессерт или выпечка от, например французских, кондитеров  не может быть без хорошего жирного масла или обычной муки, как не изощряйся. Поэтому я нашла временный выход- не есть дессерты :-)

А пока я не ем дессерты (или по крайней мере делаю вид), я нашла идеальный для себя вариант дессерта- фруктовый салат. Как оригинильно!- подумаете вы. Мой ответ- зато полезно. Хотя так как  я ем его почти что ведрами,то врятли.
Рецепт очень прост: режете все свежие фрукты,которые есть в наличие в бооооольшой тазик. Лично я не люблю очень сладкое, поэтому смешиваю сладкие фрукты с кислыми,чтоб присутствовал  некий быланс. Обязательно добавляю семена чиа и льна(много), 1-2 столовых ложки обезжиренного греческого йогутра без всяких добавок (самый обычный), немного орешек,которые можно заблаговременно припечь в духовке и готово!
Замечательный полезный перекус во время просмотра любимых теле-передач.