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Roasted Red Peppers
Ingredients:
2 pounds (1 kilo) Red peppers
6 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
Coarse Sea Salt
Fresh Ground pepper
Procedure:
1. Wash & air dry peppers
2. Heat oven to "grill" setting
3. Lay peppers on their side on the oven tray under the grill element
4. Roast the peppers until the side turns black; turn each pepper with tongs; continue until each side is black
5.
Remove the peppers from the oven; transfer them to a large bowl and cover the bowl with plastic bag or saran wrap. Leave the
peppers to cool, about an hour.
6. After the peppers cool, they will be easy to pull off the blackened skin. Discard the
core and seeds and slice the peppers to serving portions. Transfer the peeled peppers to a container.
7. Add olive oil, vinegar, salt & pepper to the peppers and stir gently to cover with mixture.
8. Refrigerate
the peppers until ready to serve.
Tabouli
Ingredients:
1/2 cup very fine bulghur wheat
2 bunches parsley, finely minced with large stems discarded
1 bunch green onions, chopped very fine
2 firm medium tomatoes, chopped fine, juicy portion discarded
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, finely minced, stems discarded
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 large lemon, juiced
Basic Mediterranean Olive Oil & Lemon juice dressing
Procedure:
Saok bulghur in hot water, enough to cover, for about 10 minutes. Drain well and place bulghur in a clean cotton towel
and squeeze out excess moisture. Place wheat in a large mixing bowl.
Toss all ingredients and seasonings, including the juice of the lemon with the dressing. Refrigerate until
ready to serve, even overnight.
To Serve:
Prepare a large plate and lay out colorful lettuce leaves on the bottom and laid up the sides of the plate. Toss the
salad again and then scoop out the salad with a slotted spoon so it is not soupy. Mound the Tabouli in a pyramid shape
onto serving plate and garnish the outside of the plate with several scooped lettuce leaves to form a circle around the salad.
Lay out lemon wedges around and garnish with parsley sprigs.
Israeli Salad
Ingredients:
4 cucumbers
4 firm tomatoes
Several radishes, finely diced
bunch of green onions or 1 white onion
Basic Mediterranean Olive Oil & Lemon Juice Dressing
Procedure:
Peel the cucumbers if the skin is tough, cut off ends, and cut into long strips. Finely chop cucumbers and put in large
mixing bowl. Finely chop tomatoes and discard juicy portion. Finely chop green onions.
Add salt, pepper and toss with a generous amount of olive oil dressing.
Cucumber Salad
Ingredients:
4-5 large cucumbers
1 bunch of parsley
1 bunch of green onions
1 bunch of fresh mint, leaves only
1 cup of celery leaves
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
Basic Mediterranean Olive oil and Lemon Juice Dressing
Procedure:
If your cucumber skin is tough, peel them first.
The following can all be done in your food processor if you prefer, since it is a very finely chopped salad. Process
each separately and add them to your mixing bowl after dicing and mincing.
Cut cucumbers into spears and dice very fine. Chop green onions very fine. Mince parsley, mint and celery leaves very
fine.
At this point, you can refrigerate the salad in a tupperware container.
To Serve:
Take out the portion of salad you will be using and add salt, pepper and toss with the dressing. Serve with your omelet
in the morning, lunch or dinner as an accompaniment. Delicious and nutritious.
Cucumber-Dill Yoghurt Salad
Ingredients:
4 large cucumbers
1 cup plain, thick Bulgarian-type yoghurt
1/2 cup fresh dill, minced, stems discarded
1 tblsp fresh mint leaves, finely minced
2 tsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Fresh dill and mint sprigs
Procedure:
With your potatoe peeler, run the peeler down the length of the cucumber peeling from end to end. Evenly space the peeling
to create a thin green stripe effect. Take a fork and run from end to end piercing through the cucumber. This will create
an interesting shape to the cucumber.
Trim off ends, and slice the cucumbers very thinly. Add mint, salt, pepper, yogurt and vinegar, stirring well.
Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with fresh dill and mint sprig.
Avocado & Feta Cheese Salad
Ingredients:
20-30 cherry tomatoes, or 3-4 regular tomatoes, chopped
4-5 green onions, chopped
2 cucumbers (about 2 cups), peeled, cut in fourths, and chopped
1 ripe avocado, cubed
l/2 lemon, juice squeezed onto cubed avocado
1/4 cup (75-100 grams) Feta cheese, crumbled or cubed
1-2 tsp coarse sea salt, to taste
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
Basic Mediterranean olive oil & lemon juice Dressing
To Serve:
pinch coarse sea salt
pinch freshly ground pepper
pinch freshly minced parsley
Procedure:
In a large mixing bowl, add the tomatoes, green onions, cucmbers, avocado, feta cheese, lemon juice, spices and seasonings
and mix gently. Add the Mediterranean dressings just before serving and mix gently. On a serving platter, arrange attractive
lettuce leaves and pile the salad up in a pyramid shape. Sprinkle on fresh ground pepper, pinch of coarse sea salt and pinch
of freshly minced parsley. Decorate platter with parsley sprigs and lemon wedges. Serve immediately.
Caesar Chicken Salad w/Croutons
Ingredients:
1/2 pound of cooked grilled chicken, prepared, sliced into thin strips
1 head of lettuce
1 cucumber
Red onion slices, separated
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesean cheese
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1/4 tsp fresh finely ground pepper
Dash of McCormick's Grill Mates Steak Seasoning
Cesaer Dressing
seasoned croutons
Procedure:
If the skin of the cucumber is tough, you can peel it. Otherwise, with your peeler, peel thin stripes down the length
of the cucumber. Then run a fork lengthwise down the cucumber all around it. Cut off the ends and slice the cucumber slightly
on an angle.
In a large salad serving bowl, roughly break in the cleaned and dried lettuce leaves. Add in the sliced cucumbers, separated
red onion slices and strips of grilled chicken breasts.
Add parmesean cheese, seasonings and dressing. Stir well. Add croutons just before serving with extra sprinklings of
extra cheese. Add pinch more of coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
Dressings & Sauces
Basic Mediterranean Olive Oil & Lemon Juice Dressing
3 tablespoons of Olive oil to 1 tablespoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice
Option:
1/2 clove of finely minced garlic (optional)
1-2 tblsps finely chopped parsley (optional)
Basil & Olive Oil Dressing
Basic olive oil & lemon juice dressing
generous minced basil, minced very fine
3 tblsp parsley, minced very fine
1 tsp Coarse sea salt, to taste
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 tblsp Parmesean cheese
2 tblsp Pine nuts, toasted in a dry pan until browned
Whisk first 4 ingredients until well incorporated. Toss with hot pasta. Add Parmesean cheese and toasted pine nuts.
Humous Dressing
4 tblsp Humous
1 tsp Tahini
1 tsp olive oil
1 tblsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 tblsp water
Salt & pepper to taste
Mix the above together until it is a smooth dressing, adding more water a teaspoon at a time for thinning, if need be.
For variation, add minced parsley, or minced garlic.
Vinaigrette Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tblsps red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon-style prepared mustard
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
Whisk above ingredients all together in a mixing bowl until well incorporated. Store in a jar.
Parsley & Olive Oil Sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
3-4 tblsps parsley, finely minced
Pinch of coarse sea salt
Dash of McCormick's Grill Mates Steak or Chicken Seasoning
freshly ground pepper
Pinch of sugar
Dash of garlic powder (optional)
Whisk all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Serve with beef, chicken or fish dishes.
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