salads

Memorial Day Recipe: Caprese Pasta Salad!

25. May 2014 · 119 comments · Categories: cooking, Dinner, food, life, pregnancy, recipes, salads, Savory, Side dishes, vegetarian · Tags: basil, belly pic, caprese, holiday, pasta, tomato

We’re down at my mother-in-law’s for the long holiday weekend, and her big, bright kitchen inspired me to finally do some cooking.

I hope that I’m getting this to you with enough notice that you can make it for your big Memorial Day spread tomorrow!

Not sure if it’s pregnancy or the weather but I’ve been craving a tangy pasta salad, specifically one with all the flavors of summer. I combined my love of Caprese Salad with pasta into this tasty dish. It’s super easy and quick and can sit out for a decent amount of time, so it’s great for when you have a buffet at your bbq.

Also, figured I’d throw in my 23 week pic, although I’m at 25 weeks now ;) Getting bigger every day…

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Caprese Pasta Salad

2014-05-25 09:29:04

Serves 6

A quick and easy pasta salad, full of the flavors of summer!

Write a review

Save Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb farfalle pasta, dried (or any shape you prefer)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
3-4 cloves garlic, minced plus 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
5-6 medium tomatoes (this really depends how much tomato you like), diced with half of the juives removed
2 handfuls fresh basil, chopped
16 oz. fresh mozzarella, diced
1 tsp salt (plus more to taste) and pepper

Instructions

Cook pasta according to directions until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water, then put in large bowl. Put empty pot back on stove top.
In a small bowl, mix vinegar and oil plus salt and pepper.
In the empty pot, add a couple Tablespoons of olive oil and add garlic. Saute a min until fragrant and lightly brown. Remove immediately and add to olive oil mixture.
Add chopped tomatoes, basil and mozzarella to bowl of pasta.
Add in oil/vinegar mixture and toss well.

By Elephant Eats

https://elephanteats.com/

Cinnamon Roasted Pears over Arugula with Blue Cheese and Apple Balsamic Glaze

16. September 2013 · 114 comments · Categories: Brunch, cooking, food, recipes, salads, Savory, vegetarian · Tags: autumn, cinnamon, pear

The other day I was reading one of the blogs I follow, Bake Your Day, and she had posted a recipe and reviewed a new butter-flavored olive oil product. I commented on the post saying how good it sounded, and the makers of the oil, Star Fine Foods, was kind enough to reach out to me and send me some samples!!!

They not only sent me that flavored olive oil (which I can’t wait to try), but also 2 different flavors of one of their other new products: flavored balsamic glaze!!

I decided to use the glaze on an autumn update of my favorite summer salad. All summer long I ate watermelon cubes over arugula, with feta or blue cheese, basil, and a balsamic glaze. At the time I used Trader Joe’s brand balsamic glaze because it was the only brand I had ever seen. Well, when I saw that Star Fine foods sent me an Apple Balsamic Glaze I was SOOO excited! I knew it would be a perfect way to transition my summer salad to fall.

I decided to go with pears for the fall fruit portion of the salad….but not just any pears- cinammon roasted ones! In the summer I love the cold, juicy watermelon, but on a cold day these warm pears are just perfect. They slightly wilt the arugula and soften the blue cheese crumbled on top. The Apple-flavored Creamy Balsamic Glaze added the absolute perfect sweet/tart flavor to go with the juicy pears and bitter arugula.

I see myself eating this all the time this autumn and it might just be my new favorite salad! I hope it will become yours too :)

**I was given these products free of charge, but all opinions are my own. I would never post about a product I didn’t love and plan to use again.

Arugula Salad with Roasted Cinnamon Pears, Blue Cheese and Apple Balsamic Glaze

2013-09-12 18:33:27

Serves 4

Warm cinammon roasted pears over a bed of arugula with blue cheese and an apple balsamic glaze

Write a review

Save Recipe

Ingredients

2 pears (I used Bartlett because I think they're the juiciest), not overly soft, cut into quarters and cored
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 cups arugula
1/4-1/3 cup blue cheese crumbles (depending on how much cheese you like)
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 Tbsp Creamy Apple Balsamic Glaze (or any balsamic glaze if you can't find this one)
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450.
Spray a foil lined baking sheet with cooking spray. Place pears on sheet, cut side up. Spray pears with cooking spray or drizzle with some olive oil
Sprinkle pears with cinnamon, salt and pepper.
While pears cook, divide arugula onto 4 plates.
Bake pears for 30 min. Remove from oven and immediately place 2 quarters each over arugula on each plate. Drizzle with blue cheese, oilve oil, and balsamic glaze. Salt and pepper to taste.

By Amy Carota (www.ElephantEats.com

https://elephanteats.com/

Mountains and Marinated Mushrooms

10. September 2013 · 100 comments · Categories: Appetizer, life, recipes, salads, Savory, Side dishes, vegetarian · Tags: cabin, idaho, mushrooms, vacation

As you know, I just got back from a short vacation to Idaho with Nate. Sorry in advance for all the photos. Hopefully you’ll enjoy them. Recipe for these lovely mushrooms are at the bottom.

We stayed at Nate’s dad’s cute little log cabin. Well, it’s not so little. It also isn’t at all rustic. It has all the amenities of a typical house, complete with a beautifully updated kitchen.

The cabin is kind of in the middle of nowhere. It’s over an hour from the nearest supermarket.

Idaho Cabin ~ ElephantEats.com

However what the area lacks in the civilization department, it more than makes up for it in the scenery. The mountains and view behind his cabin are just spectacular. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of them in all sorts of light.

This is in his backyard with the clouds rolling in.

One morning after a light sprinkling, we even got a rainbow. I was still sleeping, so thanks to Nate for capturing this one.

Not a bad view to have while eating dinner. We used the grill out on his patio the first night for some tasty salmon and veggie kabobs.

While there we tried to spend time outdoors, obviously. The cabin is surrounded by camp sites and hiking trails.

One day we did a 3 hour hike up to a couple pretty lakes.

The area has had numerous wildfires over the years and you can see the devastation everywhere. Here were some burnt, dead trees along the hike. In this area the grass has mainly grown back. Some areas definitely look much much worse.

Despite the fact that many trees have burned down, there’s an abundance of little baby pine trees starting to grow. I think they were my favorite part of the whole trip. This one happens to be right in his dad’s yard.

There were a few areas that were so close we didn’t even have to hike. This was a short drive away and then just a walk to this little creek. There were lots of salmon in it! Apparently you can see them spawning at the right time of year.

Another view of the backyard, just because.

And just some more photos…

Ok, my final mountain shot, I promise. This was during sunset on our final evening there.

Now back to the recipe. I made these mushrooms as part of Nate’s bday dinner party meal. They’re absolutely delicious but chock full of garlic. If you’re planning on doing some smooching, don’t make these. Unless the other member of your party eats them too…isn’t that the rule?

They’re really simple to make- a quick boil of the mushrooms, mix up a tasty marinade, and then let them do their thing for a while, or overnight. You’re left with a tangy, flavorful side dish that goes great with just about anything.

Marinated Mushrooms

2013-09-10 08:58:42

Serves 4

A zesty, flavorful side dish

Write a review

Save Recipe

Ingredients

1 pound fresh cremini mushrooms
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh oregano
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed pepper
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds (or a pinch of dried coriander powder)

Instructions

Clean mushrooms and remove stems. Simmer mushroom caps in salted water for 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. .
While mushrooms are cooking, mix olive oil, vinegar, garlic, red onion, oregano, parsley, salt, peppercorns and coriander in a medium bowl. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning.
When mushrooms finish cooking, drain and add to marinade. Toss well.
Marinate in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Bring to room temperature before serving.

By Whole Foods

https://elephanteats.com/

The BEST Mayo-free Potato Salad with Onions and Capers

22. July 2013 · 72 comments · Categories: cooking, food, recipes, salads, Savory, Side dishes, vegetarian · Tags: capers, dijon, picnic, potato salad

I was reading Cooking Light magazine the other day and there was a picture of this potato salad but not a whole recipe. It was a question and answer section and it kind of told you approximately what to do to make the salad. The picture, however, looked amazing.

Nate loves potatoes and has been begging me to make him a potato recipe for some time now, so I knew this was the one. We both love sour things so this recipe’s vinegar, dijon mustard and capers were a perfect match for our taste buds. I just made the recipe up as I went, adding what I thought the photo showed.

The recipe mentions an interesting technique for the dressing. By mashing up some of the potato and mixing it with the dressing ingredients, you get a creamy, highly seasoned dressed that coats the potatoes and really stays in place.

This dressing also, unfortunately, makes for a less than gorgeous appearance-hence the reason there are only two photos. But you’ll have to trust me that it tastes THAT good.

Nate and I ate this alongside our dinner for several days, and we found that it only gets better as it sits, because the onions and potatoes really absorb all the dressing. We fought each other for the last serving.

I can’t wait to make this again!

Mayo-free Potato Salad with Onions and Capers

adapted from Cooking Light

Print this recipe!

makes a lot (sorry, I have no way how to estimate this, but it filled my large mixing bowl, but prob 8 servings)

3 lb. bag red-skinned potatoes, washed and cut into bite-sized pieces.
1/4 cup white vinegar plus 2 Tbsp for boiling, divided
1 medium red onion, cut into quarters and then into 1/2 thick slices
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 celery stalks, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp capers
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1/3-1/2 cup olive oil plus 1 Tbsp, divided
3 Tbsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste.

Place the cut potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add a couple Tablespoons of white vinegar and 1/2 tsp salt. Bring to a boil, and cook for 5-10 minutes or until a fork can pierce them but they’re not falling apart (I took a potato out, cut it and tasted it to really tell). Drain potatoes and rinse with cold water to cool them down and stop cooking.

While potatoes are cooking heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a medium saute pan. When it gets hot, add the onion. Cook several minutes then add the balsamic. Continue cooking, stirring so balsamic doesn’t burn, until onions are cooked but still hold their shape. Remove to a large bowl.

Take a heaping cup of cooked potato, put in a small bowl and mash well. Whisk in the olive oil, 1/4 cup vinegar and dijon mustard.

Add rest of the potatoes to the bowl with the onions. Add the celery, capers, parsley. Dump in the dressing and thoroughly combine. Serve at room temperature or cold. It’s even better the next day after the flavors have really absorbed into the potatoes!

Farro Salad and a our busy summer so far.

10. July 2013 · 44 comments · Categories: cooking, Dinner, food, life, recipes, salads, Savory, Side dishes, vegetarian · Tags: farro

Sorry I haven’t posted a recipe in a while. We’ve been quite busy around these parts.

First, Nate’s mom came to visit, then my parents flew in for the wknd, then it was the 4th, then my bday and then I came down with a nasty stomach bug. But I’m back now, so I’ve got some lovely photos for you all, and a tasty recipe!

When Nate’s mom came to town, we went to this cool exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art called the Rain Room. It’s basically a dark room with just one light shining, and inside it’s raining…but wherever you walk the rain stops. They only let 10 or so people in at a time.

Here’s Nate and his mom- in the rain, but dry as can be.

Because it was a dark room with a huge light beam shining right on us, there were some crazy shadows while we were waiting in line.

No one else in line seemed to notice, as they were too mesmerized by the actual exhibit, but Nate and I managed to get quite a silhouette of us!

Then, we headed to the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. We’ve been there a bunch of times, but this time we went specifically because they had this awesome outdoor temporary exhibit called The Four Seasons.

From their site, “Four Seasons is an installation of four sculptures—each standing more than 15 feet high—by contemporary American artist Philip Haas. Encompassing Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, the works are inspired by the 16th-century creations of Italian Renaissance painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo.”

They were SOOOO cool. Clockwise from top left: Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn.

Here’s a photo to show how large they are in comparison to a person. Quite a resemblance, isn’t it?

Which one is the real Beardo?

I don’t have any great pics from when my parents visited because it was too hot to do anything, much less take out the camera. We did do some fun stuff though- walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, ate some yummy food, saw a cool Lego exhibit at the Discovery Center, and ate more yummy food :)

Finally, here’s me, enjoying my delicious Reese’s PB cup ice cream cake, a mere 12 hours before the stomach virus incapacitated me. At least I got to enjoy my bday!

But the real star of this post is the Farro Salad I made to bring to my friend Barrie’s annual 4th of July party. I saw it on one of my fave sites, Shutterbean, and I chose it because it has nothing in it that can spoil if it’s left out in the hot temperatures for an afternoon (i.e. perfect picnic food!). And it’s a good thing I chose something like that since it was in the 90s all day on the 4th.

It was TOTALLY delicious and I couldn’t stop eating it before I packaged it up for the party.

I’m pretty sure I didn’t change a thing from the recipe on Shutterbean’s site, so you can head on over there for the recipe! The only caveat I’d make is that I doubled the recipe and it still didn’t seem like all that much. I guess it depends if you’re serving it as a main dish or side dish.

I hope you all had a great 4th! I can’t believe we’re already into July. How is this year going by so quickly!

Get the recipe on Shutterbean’s site!

Memorial Day Recipe: Caprese Pasta Salad!

Cinnamon Roasted Pears over Arugula with Blue Cheese and Apple Balsamic Glaze

Mountains and Marinated Mushrooms

The BEST Mayo-free Potato Salad with Onions and Capers

Farro Salad and a our busy summer so far.

Search:

Welcome!

Get ElephantEats.com sent to your inbox!

Recent Posts

Memorial Day Recipe: Caprese Pasta Salad!

Cinnamon Roasted Pears over Arugula with Blue Cheese and Apple Balsamic Glaze

Mountains and Marinated Mushrooms

The BEST Mayo-free Potato Salad with Onions and Capers

Farro Salad and a our busy summer so far.

Search:

Welcome!

Get ElephantEats.com sent to your inbox!

Recent Posts

Popular Posts

Recipe Topics