Kay Wheeler Moore

Welcome to my blog

Hello. . .

The Newfangled Country Gardener is for anyone who has a garden, would like to have a garden, or who simply enjoys eating the garden-fresh way. I don't claim to be an expert; in this blog I'm simply sharing some of the experiences my husband and I have in preparing food that is home-grown.

About the author

Kay Wheeler Moore is the author of a new cookbook, Way Back in the Country Garden, that features six generations of recipes that call for ingredients that are fresh from the garden. With home gardening surging in popularity as frugal people become more resourceful, this recipe collection and the stories that accompany it ideally will inspire others to cook the garden-fresh way and to preserve their own family food stories as well. The stories in this book center around the Three Red-Haired Miller Girls (Kay's mother and aunts) who grew up in Delta County, TX, with their own backyard garden so lavish that they felt as though they were royalty after their Mama wielded her kitchen magic on all that was homegrown. Introduced in Kay's previous book, Way Back in the Country, the lively Miller Girls again draw readers into their growing-up world, in which a stringent economic era--not unlike today's tight times--saw people turn to the earth to put food on the table for their loved ones. The rollicking yarns (all with recipes attached) have love, family, and faith as common denominators and show how food evocatively bonds us to our life experiences.

Monday, March 19, 2012

This spinach salad sure was grape!

My quartet of amazing spinach salads continues with Spinach-Grape Chopped Salad. As I’ve already mentioned, these were inspired by Southern Living’s feature on new ways with spinach. This derivation contained walnuts, red grapes, reduced-fat feta cheese, and baby spinach, with bottled light raspberry vinaigrette surrounding it.

Instead of the spinach leaves remaining as whole pieces, these were chopped, according to the recipe. Hubby and I made a evening meal of this delicious dish, with some crusty bread on the side.

With each succeeding version featured in the spinach spiff-up article (I’ve already blogged about Blueberry Fields Spinach Salad and Waldorf Spinach Salad) Hubby always says, “This is the best one.” Don’t want to compare, but this salad certainly was over the top!

Spinach-Grape Chopped Salad

1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
1 cup seedless red grapes
1/4 cup crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese
1/4 cup bottled light raspberry-walnut vinaigrette

Heat chopped walnuts in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Stir constantly, 5 minutes or until walnuts are toasted and fragrant. Coarsely chop spinach and grapes; toss with feta cheese and vinaigrette. Sprinkle with walnuts. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings. (Source: Southern Living February 2011).


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