Strawberry Spring Salad

The strawberries are here! Celebrate early spring with a decadent Strawberry Spring Salad. Pair it with a creamy soup for dinner or take it for weekday lunch on the go.

Strawberry Spring Salad

Spring salad mix
Sweet vidalia onion dressing
Cherry tomatoes
Baby carrots, quartered
Sliced mushrooms
Fresh strawberries, halved
Shredded mozzerella cheese
Blueberries
Raisins
Assorted nuts (cashews, macadamia, pecans, almonds, etc.)

Toss salad mix with a small amount of dressing. Add more dressing as needed to lightly coat leaves. Portion salad mix onto plates and/or into lunch containers.

Top with a generous mix of tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms, cheese, strawberries, blueberries, nuts, and raisins. Bon Apetite!

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Whole Fried Okra

Here's a twist on a Southern favorite: instead of slicing your okra before you fry, try it whole. You still get the crunchy texture, but more of the wonderful, fresh okra flavor. As an added bonus, it soaks up less oil so it is a little more healthy for you - in moderation, of course. Its just another way to hold on to our traditional recipes and look out for our health at the same time.

Whole Fried Okra

Whole okra, with stems, rinsed
1 small container buttermilk
Cornmeal mix

Boil the whole okra about 5 minutes to soften, unless you have super-tender young okra. Drain okra and lightly salt. Allow to cool. Coat okra in cornmeal mix, dip in buttermilk, then coat in cornmeal again. Repeat for each pod.

In a cast iron skillet or deep fryer, fry in 350 degree oil for a few minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve. Awesome with sliced fresh garden tomatoes and pork roast.

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Tangerine Snack Plate

Need a light snack between meals? An alternative to cookies for after school snack? Something to nibble with a glass of wine? Try some fresh, juicy-tart tangerines with creamy cheese and whole grain crunchy crackers.

Tangerine Snack Plate

1 fresh tangerine, peeled and sectioned
Several chunks of Gouda cheese
Organic stone ground wheat crackers

Arrange fruit, cheese, and crackers on a plate, and serve. Goes best with crisp white wines such as Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, or Sauvignon Blanc. For red wines or champagne, swap the tangerines for strawberries.

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Warm Strawberry Shortcake

Traditional Strawberry Shortcake is served with chilled strawberries, but in this variation, the sweet warm strawberries melt the whipped cream topping and soak into the shortcake.

Warm Strawberry Shortcake

2 cups strawberries, de-stemmed and quartered
4 TBS sugar
1 pkg. shortcake shells
whipped cream

Place strawberries in a medium sauce pan with about a cup of water. Warm to bubbling and add sugar. Stir to dissolve. When berries are softened, remove from heat. Place a shortcake shell on serving plates, and spoon strawberry mixture over each shell. Drizzle the cakes and plates with strawberry liquid. Just before serving, top with a generous scoop of whipped cream.

You might choose to top with a few slivered almonds and serve with flavored coffee.

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Caesar Salad

Caesar salad is a favorite in restaurants, but do you make it at home? With a few simple ingredients, you can dress up dinner, add variety to your family's diet, and pack in the nutrition of green leafy romaine.

While the appetizer-sized Caesar salad is a perfect accompaniment to dinner, consider making a larger portion and topping it with shrimp, steak, or grilled chicken marinated in Caesar dressing.

Caesar Salad

Romaine lettuce, chopped
Caesar dressing
Croutons
Shredded Parmesan
Fresh ground black pepper, optional

Place romaine in a big mixing bowl and add 1 TBS Caesar dressing. Mix to coat the leaves. Add 1 more TBS at a time, mixing well after each one until each leaf has a light coat of dressing. It always takes less dressing than you think, so don't drench the romaine. If too much dressing is used, add more lettuce.

Put the dressing-coated romaine in serving bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan and a few croutons. Salads can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for an hour or two, but add the croutons just before serving. Enjoy!

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Baked Sweet Potatoes

With melting butter, cinnamon, and sugar, sweet potatoes are so decadent and savory, that they really should not be healthy for you. But they are! They offer huge amounts of vitamins, minerals, and health benefits with few calories.

The high levels of potent anti-oxidants help heal damaged cells and reduce your risk of heart and vascular disease as well as cancer. The natural anti-inflammatory effect helps ease the pain of asthma, arthritis, and other inflammatory processes. So, bake a few extra while you are at it and take a sweet potato with your lunches during the week.

Baked Sweet Potatoes

3-4 medium sweet potatoes
salt
butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, optional

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Scrub sweet potatoes under cool running water. Pierce deeply with knife or fork to allow steam to escape while cooking. Place sweet potatoes in a glass dish (line with foil for easy clean up). Bake for about 45 minutes or until tender.

To open, cut a slit across the top and squish the ends of the potato toward the middle. Sometimes I just like a little salt on mine, but you could also top with a pat of butter, cinnamon, sugar, and/or nutmeg if desired.

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Roasted Potatoes and Carrots

Roasted Potatoes and Carrots are a great side dish especially for chilly or rainy evenings. Serve them with baked chicken for a Southern Sunday dinner and saute the leftovers to serve with eggs in the morning.

Roasted Potatoes and Carrots

2 medium potatoes
3 stalks celery
1 medium onion
10 baby carrots
olive oil
handful parsley, chopped
salt
pepper
pinch of thyme
a few sprinkles cayenne

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash and cut the potatoes and celery into bite size pieces. Cut the onion into wedges. Wash and cut the baby carrots in half length wise. Put all veggies in a large plastic bag. Douse with enough olive oil to coat well. Add parsley, salt and pepper to taste, pinch of thyme, and a few sprinkles of cayenne. Seal the bag and shake well to season and coat veggies.

Line a glass dish with foil for easy clean up. Pour veggies out of the bag into the dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until tender.

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