Arugula Salad With Walnut Vinaigrette

Hint: toast walnuts at home in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, which takes four to give minutes. Make sure to shake the pan occasionally to turn the nuts. If you don't have walnut oil, replace the canola and walnut oils with 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil.

Walnut Vinaigrette:

- 1 Tbs. lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp. table salt
- pinch of ground black pepper
- 2 Tbs. canola oil
- 1 Tbs. walnut oil

Salad:

- 4 c. arugula, washed and dried
- 1 1/2 Tbs. chopped walnuts, toasted

1. Combine lemon juice, salt, and pepper in bowl with fork. Add oils, then whisk or mix with fork until smooth, about 30 seconds. The dressing will separate after 5 to 10 minutes, so use immediately or cover and refrigerate; mix again before tossing with greens.
   
   
2. Place arugula and walnuts in large salad bowl. Drizzle with dressing and toss until greens are evenly coated. Serve immediately.

T. Liu's Famous Granola Recipe

This is Teresa Liu's version of Katie Craven's granola recipe (Katie likes to add in dried fruit, which is a great option, too):

_{- 1 c. almonds (chopped)}

_{- 1 c. pecans (chopped)}

_{- 3 c. oatmeal (quick oats)}

_{- ¾ c. wheat germ (untoasted)}

_{- ¼ c. b. sugar}

_{Stir all together, then add:}

- ¼ c. honey

- ¼ c. canola oil

- ¾ tsp. salt

- 2 tbsp. hot hot water

Mix together, pour over and mix into granola mixture. Spread on lipped pan covered with wax paper. Bake at 250 degrees for 60 min. total, stirring every 20 min. at the 40 min. mark, mix in ¼ c. light karo syrup.

Great with fresh fruit in the morning.

Chinese No-Chicken Salad

I love this stuff. Different roommates of mine have had different version over the years -- this one comes from Stephanie Johnson:

SALAD:

• 1 head cabbage
• 8 Tbs. almonds, toasted (if you please)
  
• 8 tsp. sesame seeds, toasted (if you please)
  
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 2 pkgs. ramen noodles

DRESSING:

• 4 Tbs sugar
• 2/3 cup oil
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 Tbs vinegar
• 2 spice ramen spice packets (oriental flavor is vegetarian)
  

(Note: I've grilled up tofu before and mixed it in -- this works fine if you want to add more protein to the mix.)

Mix shredded cabbage, green onions, sesame seeds, almonds. Pour dressing over all, sprinkle with noodles.

May substitute Ramen noodles with dry chow mein noodles. May double ingredients for dressing.

Serves 4-6 (depends on the size of the head of cabbage)

Vegetable Enchiladas

A friend in our ward out here, Katie Blakesley, forwarded me this recipe from MarthaStewart.com. We tried it out for our dinner guests tonight and really enjoyed the way it tasted (and that means a lot coming from me because I'm not usually a fan of "red sauce" on enchiladas). Bonus: it can be frozen for up to two months if you store the sauce separately.

Ingredients (serves 8):

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for baking dishes
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium vegetable broth
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3 cups grated pepper Jack cheese (12 ounces)
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 box (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 box (10 ounces) frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 6 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
• 16 corn tortillas (6-inch)

Directions:

1. Make sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add 1 teaspoon cumin, flour, and tomato paste; cook, whisking, 1 minute. Whisk in broth and 3/4 cup water; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook until slightly thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
   
   
2. Make filling: In a large bowl, combine 2 cups cheese, beans, spinach, corn, scallion whites, and remaining 1 teaspoon cumin; season with salt and pepper.
   
   
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil two 8-inch square baking dishes; set aside. Stack tortillas, and wrap in damp paper towels; microwave on high for 1 minute. Or stack and wrap in aluminum foil, and heat in oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Top each tortilla with a heaping 1/3 cup of filling; roll up tightly and arrange, seam side down, in prepared baking dishes.
   
   
4. Dividing evenly, sprinkle enchiladas with remaining 1 cup cheese, and top with sauce. Bake, uncovered, until hot and bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes; serve garnished with scallion greens.

To freeze: Prepare enchiladas through step 3; top with cheese, and cover baking dishes with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. Place sauce in an airtight container. Freeze enchiladas and sauce for up to 2 months.

To bake from frozen: Thaw sauce in refrigerator overnight (or microwave on high 2 minutes, stirring once halfway through). Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove foil and plastic wrap from baking dishes, and pour sauce over enchiladas; cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes; remove foil, and bake until bubbly, about 15 minutes more. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Note: If you like your enchiladas spicier, add 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper to sauce.

Spaghetti Squash With Tomato Sauce

I finally had a chance to make this after watching Martha Stewart cook up some squash on her show. I pulled her version off the website, minus the turkey meatballs. The combination was great but I'm sure you could play around with the sauce.

Serves 4

For Spaghetti Squash:

• 2 spaghetti squashes (about 2 pounds each), halved lengthwise and seeds removed
• 1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper

For Tomato Sauce:

• 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Tbs. tomato paste
• 2 cans (28 ounces each) crushed tomatoes with basil
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• salt and freshly ground pepper

1. To prepare the spaghetti, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle cut sides of squashes with oil; season with salt and pepper. Place cut sides up on a baking sheet. Bake until soft to the touch, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.
2. To prepare the sauce, heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for an additional minute. Stir in the tomatoes and oregano; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 20 minutes. Keep warm over low heat.
3. When the squashes are cool enough to handle, scrape the flesh of each squash with a fork into strands, and place into a large bowl. Serve topped with meatballs and sauce, and sprinkled with cheese, if desired.

Note: I only bought one squash to feed Shane and I and halfed the rest of the recipe as well and we had plenty for dinner and then some.

Indian Spiced Chickpea and Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

Amazingly delicious soup courtesy of Missy Smalls. See her instructions below:

Serves 4 as a first course.

Ingredients:
1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cans chickpeas, drained
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
2 t ground cumin
1/2 t ground cardamom
1/2 t turmeric
salt and pepper
2 c chickeno or vegetable stock
1 (28-oz) can fire roasted tomatoes*
1 cup plain yogurt
Warm pita, any flavor or variety, toasted

*Note about the tomatoes: On the show, Rachael Ray used crushed fire roasted tomatoes, but at my store they only sell diced fire roasted tomatoes (which are actually a new addition to the tomato aisle, thank goodness). I just popped them in the food processor for a couple seconds once I was done with the chickpeas and it comes out splendidly.

1. Heat a medium pot with the extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Grind the chickpeas and onion in food processor. Add to pot and cook 5 minutes to sweeten onion.
3. Season the chickpeas with cumin, cardamom, turmeric, salt and pepper. Stir in stock, then tomatoes.
4. Simmer soup 5-10 minutes to combine flavors. Serve with a dollop of yogurt and warm pita for dipping.

Poppyseed Dressing

I had this at an enrichment activity once and couldn't get it out of my head. Delicious on salad, especially with fruit mixed in (and for you meat-eaters you can add chopped chicken, too).

• 1/4 c. red onions
• 1/2 c. sugar (or honey)
  
• 1/3 c. vinegar
• 1 c. canola oil
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 Tbs. poppyseed
  

Smooth ingredients together in blender. Store in glass jar if you don't want to use right away.

Great tossed with spinach leaves, fruit (mandarin oranges, apples, strawberries) and nuts (almonds, pecans). Throw in some chicken for you meat-eaters and you have a full-blown meal.