Nectarine and Summer Fruit Salad

I needed this salad.  Like, needed fresh greens, juicy fruits, and a tangy vinaigrette desperately.  Maybe because it was Memorial Day weekend.  Maybe because I indulged a little too much in chilled wine, potato chips, and sweets.  Or maybe because produce is starting to look mighty fine these days at the market.

Whatever the reason was, I needed some good, fresh, nutritious salad immediately.

I had spent the afternoon cleaning out the closets, folding up winter coats and sweaters, and triumphantly vacuuming those Space Bag things that you see all those infomercials on (yes, they really do work.)  I’m in a pinch to fit a one-bedroom apartment’s worth of clothes and books (and apparently billions of baking/cooking supplies) into two cars in two and a half weeks for Move #1.  I’m bound and determined to make everything fit.  I’ve got boxes all over my apartment, Space Bags stuffed with hoodies under my dining room table, and piles of “ok, seriously I should throw this out” scattered throughout the available (but not immediately necessary) floor space.

I was not in the mood to make a time-consuming dinner.  I was in the mood for something cleansing, fast, and filling.

Enter this salad.  Made with pre-washed salad greens (I chose a mix of spinach and spring greens), it was a snap to throw together.  Nectarines were on sale this past week so I used those, but you could use any kind of fruit that you like.  Tossed in a raspberry shallot viniagrette and a sprinkle of goat cheese, it was a great mix of crunch, tanginess, and fresh flavors. So, there I sat, amidst hangers, plastic bags, and boxes, eating this salad with a chilled glass of white wine, and smiled, happy for another quickly approaching end to another chapter in my life.

Nectarine and Summer Fruit Salad

Servings: 4-6

 

Ingredients

For the viniagrette:

1 small shallot, minced

3 tablespoons raspberry vinegar

1 teaspoon orange zest

1 tablespoon fresh orange juice, divided

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

For the salad:

1/2 pound salad greens, your choice

2/3 cups fresh raspberries

2 nectarines, sliced

1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled

For garnish: fresh raspberries and orange slices

Instructions

1. For the vinaigrette: In a medium bowl, combine the shallot with the raspberry vinegar, orange zest, 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of the orange juice, and a pinch of salt.

2. Gradually whisk the olive oil into the vinegar mixture.

3. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

4. In a small bowl, lightly mash the raspberries and then add them into the vinaigrette; set aside.

5. In another small bowl, place the sliced nectarines into the remaining orange juice and set aside for a few minutes.

6. For the salad: Just before serving, toss the salad greens lightly with the vinaigrette.  Add the nectarine slices, a sprinkle of goat cheese, and garnish with fresh raspberries and orange slices.  Enjoy.

 

Source:  Adapted from Fine Cooking.

 

May 29, 2012 - 6:59 am

Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar - Perfect for summer, and sooo tasty! Yum!

May 29, 2012 - 8:53 am

Blog is the New Black - Love nectarines! This looks fresh and delicious!

May 29, 2012 - 10:19 am

Lauren Ochoa - This looks so delicious! I was just feeling bad because I can’t make the delicious looking Caesar salad on Annie’s Eats (since I’m preggo). This, I can make! And I have been craving salads like crazy this week.

May 29, 2012 - 2:12 pm

Ann P. - I am so excited for you and this new chapter, Shanon! I’m submitting my AMCAS in less than a week, and one day I hope to be where you are. 🙂
Anyway, this salad is the perfect way to start the week. The way you described it just made my mouth water!

May 29, 2012 - 5:04 pm

Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious - I just bought a bag of nectarines and I was wondering how I’d use them up! Can’t wait to try this jam-packed salad.

May 29, 2012 - 7:08 pm

Heidi @ Food Doodles - Beautiful salad! I’m loving the fruit – there’s no better way to motivate myself to eat salads than with fruit 😀

May 29, 2012 - 8:15 pm

Virginia - This looks so amazing. Your pictures are always beautifully composed and styled. Sometimes I can’t decide which is better- your photos or your food. Keep up the amazing work!

May 30, 2012 - 4:55 pm

OliePants - What a beautiful summer salad. I would definitely enjoy this as a side or a main actually!

June 2, 2012 - 9:15 am

Jacqueline - Gorgeous picture! Love the colors.

April 30, 2013 - 3:24 pm

Nectarine and Summer Fruit Salad - […] source:   thecurvycarrot.com […]

July 19, 2014 - 11:26 pm

Summer Recipes | yuhmeal - […] You can find the original recipe here. […]

Cherry Tomato Bites

It’s Memorial Day Weekend.  (And if you are from Indianapolis, like me, it’s Race Weekend.)

Here are some super simple appetizers that can be thrown together in about 20 minutes or so.  If you like tomatoes and cucumbers, then you are set.  There’s a lot of versatility in these as well.  You can tweak and adjust both the consistency and the flavor combinations for these little bite-sized bits of summer flavor.

A word to the wise:  make sure you invert the tomatoes after removing the pulp to drain for a few minutes.  Also make sure that you blot the chopped cucumber well to remove excess water (if you aren’t short on time, I would actually let it sit in a fine mesh sieve or colander over some paper towel to get the excess moisture out-this will help a lot with making sure that the consistency isn’t too watery…).  Throw everything together in a food processor, and you’re set.  I would also advise chilling these right before serving time-they are best cold, in my opinion.

I hope wherever you are, you are having a great weekend!

Cherry Tomato Bites

Servings: 24 tomato bites

 

Ingredients

24 cherry tomatoes, tops sliced off and pulp removed (I used a 1/2 teaspoon to remove the pulp.)

One 8-ounce brick of cream cheese, softened but still cool

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/3 cup cucumber, peeled and chopped (about 1/2 one medium cucumber)

1 tablespoon green onions, chopped

4 teaspoons Ranch seasoning (or your favorite combination of herbs)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Fresh herbs or green onions, to top each one, if desired

 

Instructions

1. In the bowl of your food processor, combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise, cucumber, green onions, Ranch seasoning, and salt and pepper.  Process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times to achieve an even consistency.

2. Slice a very thin layer off the bottom of each tomato (this will help them sit up straight on your serving platter.)

3. Transfer the cream cheese mixture to a pastry bag fitted with your desired tip.

4. Pipe the filling into each tomato, and garnish with fresh herbs, if desired.

5. Chill until serving time.  Enjoy.

 

Source:  Adapted from Taste of Home.

 

May 27, 2012 - 9:01 am

Mel - oooooh, these look like little explosive bombs of deliciousness! Great photos and lovely recipes, thanks for sharing!

May 27, 2012 - 4:59 pm

Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar - So fun! Love this idea!

May 28, 2012 - 12:49 am

Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious - These bites are so incredibly cute!

May 28, 2012 - 2:42 pm

Ann P. - Perfect little bites for any sort of party!

May 28, 2012 - 5:37 pm

Carrie@Bakeaholic Mama - What perfect little bite of yumminess! Not to mention so stinking cute!

August 30, 2012 - 5:00 am

The Curvy Carrot » Black Bean Sliders - […]   Cherry Tomato Bites […]

December 30, 2012 - 4:54 am

Oud en Nieuw borrelhapjes deel 2 | Lekker en Simpel - […] Gevulde cherrytomaatjes […]

January 25, 2013 - 2:30 am

Kim - These look AMAZING. Can’t wait to try them!

May 9, 2013 - 8:16 am

Cherry Tomato Bites - […] For recipe visit:  thecurvycarrot.com […]

Kitchen Sink Brownies

TGIF.  And…even better.  It’s a Friday before a 3-day weekend.

I figured I should post these monstrosities of brownies on a holiday weekend.  That way,  if you are going to a cook-out or a get-together and you want to be the hit of the party for chocolate-lovers, then you can make these (warning: a chocolate/sugar coma may ensue after mass consumption of these wonders.)

I always tend to have a lot of chocolate around-just hanging out in the pantry or freezer.  These days, I am working really hard on cleaning out the pantry and the freezer since I’m moving in 3 weeks  (Holy cow!  Three weeks!)  And by working really hard, I mean eating way too much of it before attempting to go to sleep, which usually does not end well.

I also had some random pretzels on hand, as well as Oreos, Snickers, and Hershey bars.  I figured I would throw it all in the brownie batter-why not?  The nice thing is that you can add in whatever you have on hand: nuts, chocolate chips, etc.  The end result is a nice fudge-like brownie with all sorts of surprises thrown in.

Kitchen Sink Brownies

Servings: One 9 x 13-inch pan

 

Ingredients

1 and 1/2 cups flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks, yes, I know….) unsalted butter, melted

1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 and 1/2 cups light brown sugar

4 eggs

1/4 cup espresso or very strong coffee

2 teaspoons vanilla

10 Oreo cookies, chopped

4 Hershey bars, chopped

8-10 fun-size Snickers bars, chopped

1/2 cup pretzels, chopped

 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

2. Lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

3. Line the baking pan with aluminum foil (lay two pieces perpendicular to each other so that there is some foil hanging off of the sides) and spray with cooking spray.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

5. In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the melted butter and both of the sugars at medium speed for about 2-3 minutes.

6. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

7. Add the espresso or coffee, mixing well.

8. Add the vanilla.

9. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.

10. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the remaining ingredients, mixing until thoroughly incorporated.

11. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking pan and bake, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55-58 minutes (Mine were a little soft still at 55 minutes, but as they cooled, they cooked a little bit more.  I like my brownies to be a little soft.  Remember, oven times and temperatures will vary.)

12. Once slightly cooled, cover with foil and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

 

Source: Adapted from My Recipes.

 

May 25, 2012 - 7:55 am
May 25, 2012 - 8:14 am

Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar - Yum! SO full of goodness!

May 25, 2012 - 8:18 am

Claire - Yum! Thanks for sharing!

May 25, 2012 - 2:00 pm

natalie@thesweetslife - i don’t know if it gets much better than a long weekend and these brownies! enjoy both 🙂

May 25, 2012 - 2:58 pm

Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious - I’m so glad you posted this before the big weekend. I am definitely going to make this and pig out until I have to drag myself to work come Tuesday.

May 25, 2012 - 3:29 pm

Ann P. - I love the way the texture of your brownies look! Some people like super-fudgy, some people like very cake-y, but yours look just right for me. 🙂 Bookmarking this recipe!

May 28, 2012 - 12:23 pm

Laurel @ Lolly's Sweet & Savory Treats - Oh yum! These look scrumptious. I love the espresso and salty pretzels thrown in.

June 30, 2012 - 10:00 pm

Don Devine - Sinful!!!!