Tex-Mex Cornbread Salad celebrates 500th blog entry

How does one celebrate a 500th blog post? I remember when I noted that a blog I was entering that day was #365 and that I had completed a year’s worth of entries in The Newfangled Country Gardener. Seems like just the blink of an eye ago.

But pressing on down the road, today I’m marking number 500; that’s half of 1,000! Lots of good recipes tried out and nourishing food consumed. (Hubby would say, “And lots of trips to the grocery store for me!” True. Lots of encouraging “attagirl”s on his part, as well.)

Today’s entry, Tex-Mex Cornbread Salad, truly is one of the best items I’ve featured here. A hearty, healthy bowl full of goodness—a bit of it straight from our current garden. In almost mid-December, tomatoes still grow on their vines (we covered them in last night’s cold snap.) Happy to be able to haul a few in and toss them into this salad, which has a tangy vinaigrette dressing and cornbread made with taco seasoning.

Wouldn’t this be a colorful item on a Christmas bring-a-dish table? You’d snare compliments galore. Pleased also that my #500 blog features a recipe from the Chickasaw Nation Nutrition Services. These great cooks and recipe innovators have been the source for so many great entries in this feature. A big thank-you to them for all their healthy, fresh ideas.

Tex-Mex Cornbread Salad

Cornbread:

1 egg white (I used 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1/2 cup skim milk

2 tablespoons oil

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup flour 

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 tablespoon no-salt taco seasoning

cooking spray

Vinaigrette dressing:

1/4 cup cilantro, minred

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 cup olive oil

Salad:

2 cups romaine, roughly chopped (I used spinach)

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped red onion

2 avocados, chopped

1 (15-ounce) can corn, rinsed and drained

2 cups chopped red bell peppers

Cornbread: preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix egg white, milk, and oil. Mix dry ingredients together and then combine with liquid. Spray an 8-inch-by-8-inch pan with cooking spray. Pour cornbread mixture into pan; bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Whisk together all ingredients for the vinaigrette dressing; refrigerate. In a glass bowl or trifle dish layer the salad ingredients. Start with romaine and continue with black beans, tomatoes, onion, avocado, corn, and bell pepper. Drizzle the dressing on top of the salad. Toss. Top with cornbread cubes. Makes 13 1-cup servings. (Source: Chickasaw Nation Nutrition Services)

Spinach-Apple-Bacon Salad—a have-to-prepare

Beautiful, healthy, colorful salad—as basic as you can get, but we enjoyed the flavorful simplicity. Hints of fall weather, of course, make the apple everyone’s best friend in whatever menu item you might choose. So these lovely, crunchy apples were a natural ingredient for this dish.

The recipe arrived in my Kroger grocery circular. Spinach-Apple-Bacon Salad—It was a have-to-prepare. The honey/Dijon mustard dressing was delightful to toss around it.

Give it a try! It worked for us!

Spinach-Apple-Bacon Salad

1/4 cup water

3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

4 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 Royal Gala or Granny Smith apple, cut lengthwise into 16 slices

8 cups baby spinach

sliced red onion

sliced button mushrooms

2 slices center-cut bacon, cooked until crispy (I used turkey bacon.)

In a small bowl combine first 6 ingredients (water through pepper). Stir with a whisk to make the dressing. Place the apple slices in a large bowl. Spoon 2 tablespoons dressing over apples; toss to coat. Add spinach, mushrooms, onions, and remaining dressing. Toss to coat. Crumble the bacon and sprinkle over the top of the salad. Refrigerate any leftovers. Makes 4 servings.

Warm Pear Salad makes a grand entrance at garden party

A new definition of garden party was born. For Father’s Day our daughter and I pooled the yield of our respective summer gardens to honor the fathers in our midst—a really memorable way to celebrate that dad-honoring day.

What a colorful table as fresh yellow squash, zucchini, onions, corn, and peaches were served in various dishes! 

My contribution was Warm Pear Salad with Walnuts and Parmesan Cheese, made with pears from our abundant pear tree. This year our faithful pear is trying to out-produce its garden-mate, the prolific peach. I plunked some sliced fresh pear slices into a skillet and sautéed them in butter and sugar until they were tender. 

The pears then were tossed with spinach, toasted walnuts, Parmesan cheese shavings, and a honey-mustard vinaigrette. It brought back memories of a Warm Pear Salad that an innovative chef served us only a few weeks ago during our joint family vacation in Hawaii. I was happy to attempt to recreate his dish on the U.S. Mainland and bring back happy memories of our visit.

Warm Pear Salad was just the right combination of sweet, salty, nutty, and leafy. It helped make some dads (other diners, too) pretty happy.

Warm Pear Salad with Walnuts and Parmesan Cheese

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

 juice of half a lemon

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 pears—peeled, cored, and cut into 1/3-inch slices

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons sugar (or sugar substitute)

pinch of salt (or salt substitute)

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Parmesan cheese, shaved to garnish

8 cups mesculun greens, washed and dried (I used fresh spinach)

In a small bowl combine vinegar, honey, mustard, lemon, salt, and pepper. In a small saucepan melt butter over medium-high heat. Toss the pear slices in the sugar and add to melted butter. Sauté pears until they are slightly caramelized but still firm. Add 3 turns of cracked black pepper and a pinch of salt. Remove pears from pan; keep warm. Add walnuts to the pan; toss in the remaining butter to coat and warm through. Toss greens in enough vinaigrette to coat them. Divide the greens among the plates. Top with the pear slices and walnuts. Shave some Parmesan cheese on top. Add extra vinaigrette if desired. Makes 4 servings. (Source: www.thedragonskitchen.com)