My Pasta Salad.

I make a LOT of pasta salad during the summer months. Too hot to cook and it's big filling and can sit nicely in the fridge for a few days while we work our way through it.

I don't really follow a recipe PER SE because I like to throw whatever I have in it depending on my mood. So you can pick and choose from list of ingredients depending on your mood!

PASTA SALAD

Fun Pasta Shapes - cooked and cooled (I toss with olive oil to prevent sticking)

Olives (halved)

Artichoke hearts (marinated ones work just fine)

cherry or grape tomatoes (more shapes and colors the better)

Cucumbers (the more the merrier I say!)

bell peppers (again different colors work well!)

Feta cheese

Kidney beans(I use canned)

Pine nuts

add a bit of apple cider vinegar and some herbs, salt and pepper to taste and you have a meal.

*IF you are wanting gluten free we use Tinkyada brand rice pastas - I think they taste the best and hold their shapes the best. I love the Fusilli and the shells for this salad.

You can also add fresh herbs from the garden such as cilantro or parsley. Curly leaf parsley's add some body and crunch to the salad too!

Summer shredded beet salad

when I don't feel like cooking because it's too hot I start thinking salads. LOTS of salads. I love having fresh veggies from the garden to use in those yummy salads.

This is one of my favorites - I think it looks festive and it tastes GREAT! I make a salad with lettuce, fresh cucumbers and cherry tomatoes from the garden then I shred multi colored beets and carrots into the salad and top with a delicious vinaigrette. You Can't go wrong! The vinaigrette I used for this is 3parts Olive oil, 1 part Red wine vinager, sea salt and pepper to taste.
Don't these fresh picked tomatoes make you want to have a big salad? MMMMMMM and it's light on the calories too. It won't undo your weekday workouts!!!!

Saute Swiss Chard

AAAAA, an abundance of Swiss Chard in the garden. This is one of my favorite Greens. (Next to spinach and of course lettuce) We seem to eat Swiss Chard several times a week. So here is my recipe for quick and easy sauteed swiss chard.

4 garlic cloves peeled and minced

1 sweet onion, diced

A Mess of Swiss Chard (remember this cooks WAY down)

1TBSP olive oil

1 tsp or more to taste Balsamic Vinegar

Add oil, diced onion and minced garlic to large wok or frying pan.

Heat until fragrant.

Roll cleaned swiss chard leaves into cigars and cut in strips. Add to wok and saute until it is wilted.

Take off heat and add a few splashes of the balsamic vinegar and mix to blend.

ENJOY!

Pantry Items:

Balsamic Vinegar

Olive Oil.

Warm Root Veggie Salad

This is one of my most requested recipes! It is corn, gluten, dairy, soy, wheat free! And not bad tasting (I've even had beet haters say this was good) I cannot take credit for this yummy creation - recipe courtesy of Deb McCleave!

Recipe for Warm Root Veggie Salad

2 - 3 Good sized sweet potatoes (peeled and cut in thin rounds)

3 good sized turnips peeled and cut in thin rounds

3 good sized beets, peeled and cut in thin rounds.

2 Leeks trimmed and cut into mix

Toss with Olive oil, 1 Tsp of good sea salt, 1 tsp of garlic powder or fresh garlic minced and pepper to taste. Put in oven on 400* until veggies are tender.

In the mean time prepare the salad dressing -

1/4 C. Olive Oil

1/4 C. Balsamic Vinegar (we like Trader Joes)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp - 1 tsp sugar (you can substitue splenda for sugar free version I just use less)

pepper to taste and for those who are adventuresome - Cayenne pepper to taste.

When the veggies are done, toss them with dressing and serve warm.

You can tweak the spices to fit your taste.

PANTRY ITEMS

Olive Oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Cayenne Pepper

Garlic Powder or Minced Garlic

Salt

Sugar

Why Am I Here?

Time and Again I get asked how to make the stuff I make. I decided this was a good way to share the recipes we use here at home and share our recipes we make using things we grow or produce here at CBFNigerians. WE have a small herd of dairy goats which we make cheese, ice cream, kefir, yogurt and soaps from. We have a garden and lots of trees that produce veggies and fruits and now we have bees for honey.

I am always happy to share my recipes and I love being able to cook from the garden. So here I am blogging about some good eats from the homestead.

Another thing about us is that we have a family member who is Gluten/Wheat intolerant and we make a lot of food that is Gluten/wheat free. This will be a good source to add to your gluten free repetoire as well. Some of this stuff you won't even miss the wheat and gluten. I will try hard to remember to put together a pantry list and tell you about products that are ones we love when cooking. Otherwise, they are things we grow here!